Higher or lower?

It appears we're having a clash of viewpoints here, primarily ranging from those grounded in reality to those espoused by someone floating in space. With the elimination of the Homeowner's Grant Program looming, local governments are wrestling with sending out increases in property taxes or issuing drastic cuts to services, and Athens-Clarke County is confronting a projected $1.8 million shortfall based on these actions.

If cuts aren't determined, this would result in a state-mandated tax hike of $260 or so per property owner.

Sen. Bill Cowsert has determined that citizens will embrace any measure of tax reduction, even if it means Draconian cuts to basic services ...

"We're looking at having to either eliminate services or reduce services," Mayor Heidi Davison said.

Many taxpayers are fine with that, said state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens. They will accept cuts to services like police, parks and schools if it means their bills are lower, he said.

"I think you'll hear, 'I don't want all the services you're giving me,'" he said.

Of course, with all due respect to Cowsert, I think that position is rather insane. And it flies in the face of what Athens-Clarke County District Seven Commissioner Kathy Hoard - someone who has been in office twice as long as Cowsert - said during a work session meeting last night.

During a discussion regarding using federal stimulus money to fund 27 new police officers for Athens-Clarke County, they were wrestling with how to cover that cost after the stimulus funding was gone. Hoard commented that she hasn't yet met a voter who wouldn't mind paying higher taxes if it's being used for a basic public service provision that offers protection and security for the community.

One could make the argument that perhaps Cowsert and his friends in Atlanta probably should have focused on protecting the Homeowner's Grant Program rather than, say, dramatically cut the capital gains taxes, thus benefitting only the Top Five percent of richest Georgians ... but whatever.