. . . Hooray? . . .

I guess I'm feeling less celebratory. While I'll take the tax reduction we got of $360, it doesn't mean the legislature is meeting its constitutional obligation to fully fund schools. Also, neighbors are reporting numbers upwards of $500 -- and you can't tell me my house's value is that much less than theirs; I don't get it. Magic math going on here.

Additionally, my statement says $214 of that reduction is for "school savings," without offering an explanation of where the rest of the reduction comes from. It doesn't appear to have gone to the schools.

I, for one, am a taxpayer weary of legislative sleight of hand in taking credit for finally doing part of something they should have been doing fully all along. And the big ol' cynic in me is left to wonder whether this is a flash in the pan for one year and our property taxes will go back up next year -- because politicians love short-term solutions that help now but have short lifespans that only put us back to business as usual.

And we keep sending them back to the legislature.

Part of it is like getting really excited over a big federal tax refund. Until you remember you're getting your own money back that you loaned to the government, interest-free, for a year.