Cities, villages must conserve money now, in wake of new tax law

Local city budgets must be reduced to conform to the realities of our losing taxpayer deductions in the new tax law. All citizens should use their experiences to suggest where cuts should be made. These are my suggestions for Schaumburg that can be used as an example:

• An efficiency consultant must be contacted to recommend what city and education jobs can be combined or eliminated. Cities should survey their employees, anonymously, for suggestions. No more shiny new red Schaumburg trucks for a while? Please combine our two school districts into a unit district. We must reduce local taxes by a third to make up for the loss of the deductions?

• How much does it cost taxpayers to run the full-size city buses in Schaumburg with zero or one person riding in them? Wouldn't it be cheaper for our state and communities to provide cab fare for them? Are we pretending to be Chicago?

• I have recently had a skunk take up residence under my front stoop in Schaumburg. I was dismayed to discover that the Schaumburg animal control officers no longer lend out traps for wildlife other than feral cats. This policy obviously concerns showing an ample level of humanity toward animals other than those who happen to be felines.

How much does it cost taxpayers to have a cat control officer on duty in case a stray cat wanders into the village and an officer must leave their chair to hand out a trap? Maybe you can sell their vehicles since they don't deliver the cat-only traps. Please eliminate this dinosaur office.

Any city's main goal should be the retention of critical services and the lowering of taxes NOW so that citizens can afford to remain residents next year.

Ray Spangler

Schaumburg