Village, and others, must get realistic

To all those who showed up at the village board meeting and stopped the original tax levy ... thank you!

For every one of the 150 residents who came out, there are thousands more of us out here who agree with you wholeheartedly.

It is about time that our government gets a dose of reality in spending our money.

Now the village board bemoans the fact of cutting programs, imposing layoffs and cutting the usual budget increases. These are tough but necessary steps. "Like many suburban municipalities, Arlington Heights plans on spending more than it takes in during the budget year," according to the Daily Herald.

Try cutting deeper, like many families and business are doing! Mayor Mulder says that when programs are cut, she gets negative calls and e-mails. However, complaints from some citizens is certainly no reason to act irresponsibly and continue to overspend.

When one resident questioned the cost of the Christmas decorations and the expense of the ChristkindlMarkt this year, one trustee arrogantly said something to the effect of, "Pony up the money for these niceties or you'll have nothing to do but stay home and watch TV!"

We're not saying eliminate them, we're saying reduce them. This is the time to make difficult yet necessary decisions regarding taxes. Enough is enough. And please don't "threaten" us with a huge increase next year, as we read in the paper this morning. Start acting more like a responsible business, and less as if the homeowners were an unlimited source of revenue.

And by the way, as house values continue to decline, when do we see our property taxes decline, as well?

Now, on to the school boards.

George and Peggy Kalkas

Arlington Heights