Too high taxes, distrust, reasons voters said no

Mark Lioen had this letter published in the April 19 Dispatch/Rock Island Argus. ..... marks paragraph breaks. "Reading Eric Timmons' April 12 story: "Breakdown offers clues to why tax vote failed," it seems as though he didn't seek guidance from those ordinary residents who voted "no". ..... I've spoken to people on their doorsteps and the answer as to why the referendum was defeated is twofold. ..... First residents believe that they pay enough taxes, and second, they no longer trust the county nor those who ask the public for more money for education. They point out that those in Springfield suggested that the problem of school funding would be solved if they acceded to a lottery and to gambling because they were told that hese means would be exclusively devoted to education. ..... Now, it angers them when proponents of the 1 percent sales tax are again returning to the trough to take more of their hard-earned dollars. But, there is also distrust of the county board. On the referendum questions that the majority of the board opposes, like the one concerning the reduction in its size, a majority who voted "yes" has seen the board members in favor of the status quo muddying the waters in order to do nothing. ..... And now, they're told their property taxes would be reduced should voters accede to the 1 percent. People legitimately doubt that they'll keep their word. ..... For proponents, they seem determined to submit referendum questions until they succeed. One recalls the line from Oscar Wilde that "democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people."