Editor:

Before you vote on the school referendum, consider these things:
When you read the weeping and wailing letters in the local newspapers, they would have you believe that Rhinelander will cease to exist if we do not pass this referendum. I was in Antigo recently, and I noticed that community seemed to be humming along just fine after their referendum failed, and by a large margin.

Are you better off than you were two years ago when the last referendum was forced on us after five failed previous attempts? Did you look at your property tax bills and notice we are still paying for that one? One writer noted that those were “tough times: then, and as I look around, these tough times are still very much with us, and tougher still for some. Are you ready for your property taxes to increase every year for the next three years, and do you have any doubt that they will be looking for more money at the end of those three years? The taxpayer should not be burdened with this nonsense every time they can’t work out a budget, or every time they talk about shortfalls?

When did this practice of picking our pockets become the “new normal?” It is hard for me to imagine that many people in the school system cannot work out a budget without continuous referendums. They say they have a commitment to the students and that’s fine. What about a commitment to the taxpayer?

Let’s not forget who led that costly and ridiculous recall effort. Could the millions of dollars wasted on that have been put to better use like the schools? If indeed the formula coming out of Madison is flawed and unfair, as they say, maybe it’s time for them to storm the Capitol again and demand that it is fixed. All we heard about then was wages and benefits, but since the recall did not work out for them, it must now be the fault of the governor.

Robert Orgeman, Rhinelander