Published: January 17, 2008 04:59 pm            

LETTERS: Jan. 18, 2008

Jacobi supports tax vote

On Jan 8, I testified in the Indiana Senate Chamber about the dire effects that property taxes are having on seniors living on fixed incomes. The Senate is considering several tax plans, including abolishing property taxes. Three days later I received my 100 percent tax increase in the mail.

I will keep my perspective. The average homeowner in Indiana received a 24 percent increase. Downtown properties were hit especially hard.

But, bad things come in threes. The billings were 10 months late, our taxes doubled and the May installment for 2007, taxes is due soon. It is no consolation that everybody pays more taxes now. Property taxes have easily doubled in the last ten years.

Suburban dwellers who built new homes have paid high taxes for years. Kathryn and I renovated an eyesore property in the 300 block of East Market. We provided living quarters for my in-laws and eliminated their property taxes 12 years ago. Our assessed valued increased by 1/3 due to “trending” and that doubled our taxes. This is nearly triple the tax from our date of purchase in 1992 and we now pay a county income tax.

Remember the county income tax?

It was supposed to lower our property taxes — which it did — for two years. Now our property taxes are at an all time high and we paid another $1,200 in the local income tax. These events are driving the repeal movement.

We will pay our taxes quietly and register our public dissent. We will reduce discretionary spending and cancel the summer vacation.

But what about seniors on fixed incomes? Without family help, many seniors are at the mercy of predatory lending practices, reverse mortgages and forced sales. Their misery factor will increase dramatically if tax credits on the billing statements are reduced or eliminated. Real tax reform is needed.

I support the right of the people to vote on a referendum to abolish the property taxes.

— Senior Judge Jerry Jacobi, Jeffersonville





Reader turns light on Washington



General Petraeus’s surge seems to be causing al-Qaeda to redeploy out of Iraq and “General” Pelosi to redeploy her troops in Washington.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to have stopped trying to defund our troops and is moving to things she can sink her teeth into with her “Green the Capital Initiative.” A Washington Times article titled “House eatery goes organic” quoted a Republican leadership aid as saying “Staffers are about as thrilled with this nonsense as most taxpayers will be when they learn that they’re subsidizing sushi, tofu, couscous and other pretentious meals for federal employees".

An article titled “A Nation of Dim Bulbs” in the Weekly Standard said that President Bush signed into law a provision buried in the energy bill that would effectively ban incandescent bulbs by 2014. It seems “warriors of Greenpeace have even branded lightbulb manufacturers “climate criminals” for making incandescents, which are, they say, a “silent killer.” We will have to replace our bulbs with compact fluorescents, those funny looking lamps with twisted tubing. I find their light harder to read by, think they will look ridiculous in chandeliers and wonder how they will work in the oven and refrigerator.

Compact fluorescents contain mercury and require special disposal, not just thrown in the garbage. The EPA says if you break one, open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more. There are special procedures for picking up the pieces like not using a broom on hard surfaces and sticky tape for picking up pieces on carpets.

— Jim M. Young, Jeffersonville



Thanks to Jeff couple



I just wanted to thank the couple who stopped and helped me change my tire on Interstate 65. They live in Jeffersonville. I had been there for 45 minutes and and no one had stopped to help. My cell phone was down. I was between exits in the middle of nowhere.

I didn't get their names but they deserve to be commended. It took courage to stop and help me because there are so few people who can be trusted. They were on their way to Elizabethtown, Ky., to visit their sister-in-law in the hospital who has cancer. They saved my life so thank-you so much.

— Charlotte Hannum

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.