Easier to talk about less taxes than do it

It is all too easy to be impressed by sensational campaign rhetoric. Village President Candidate Mike Kelly has made too many promises that cannot be kept.

Less taxes is easy to say but difficult to deliver. My tax bill shows Bartlett's portion of the Cook County tax bill for 2007 was figured at a rate of approximately 0.720 or only 9 percent of my overall tax bill. Rates charged over the last 10 years have remained stable or even gone down. How was the village able to do this when so many costs increased? The answer is conservative fiscal management.

Some say, eliminate the real estate transfer tax. (But) Eliminate the tax and what happens: you either eliminate services or you increase another tax to maintain a budget.

Mr. Kelly, how do you propose to reduce taxes that are carefully managed today without having a negative impact on the quality of life? You have stated retired people can't afford the taxes. What about the young, middle aged and recently unemployed?

Maybe you have a plan to reduce the amounts charged by U-46, Cook or DuPage counties, the Bartlett Park District or maybe the Bartlett Fire District.

In these difficult economic times, other villages and towns have cut services and/or eliminated jobs but that has not happened in Bartlett. I think our - my - taxes are being well spent when I think of the quality and amount of service I get for my money.

Trustee Sherry Bormann is a member of the team that makes Bartlett what it is today. Sherry promotes attracting new and diverse businesses to Bartlett to help offset the tax burden. Sherry will continue to work to control spending, maximize efficiencies and maintain the integrity of local government. Sherry will promote all that is necessary to provide a continuation of the "hometown" values and the small town charm of Bartlett.

Sherry Bormann is the right person at the right time for Bartlett village president. Get out on election day, make your voice heard; vote Sherry Bormann for village president, Bartlett.

George R. Koziol

Bartlett