Reducing waste and excess obviously lowers the total tax burden for a community. We must eliminate waste and incompetence wherever and whenever they occur. And reasonable limits on levy growth make good economic sense and benefit the entire community.

But spending is only part of the story, especially now that the levy increases are limited by law. In fact, even with no increases in tax levies, revaluations will increase taxes for thousands of property owners, not a penny of which reaches the town, but is used to pay for the tax reductions for thousands of other taxpayers. Unbelievable, unfair, but true.

So a lot of angry tax payers direct their anger and frustration at municipal spending (like unions) as the cause of their misery, instead of at the very unfair tax distribution, where it really belongs.