Hold local officials accountable for tax hikes

Ah ... it is again that time. No, not the feel of the crisp fall weather or the beautiful colors of fall. It is time again for another round of back-door tax increases under the guise of "fair assessments" ("County Tax System in Court Today," Oct. 19; "State May Take Up Assessment in 2011," Oct. 30), brought to you by the usually subjective state Supreme Court (it included only Allegheny County, even though other counties use the same system); the always willing Judge R. Stanton Wettick, who has made a virtual life's work of this; the Legislature -- you know, that overpaid, underworked body that broke the law by not passing a budget when required -- which cannot even muster the time to pass a moratorium on assessments (because it might have to find an alternative within 30 or so years); and Ira Weiss, that savior of all the overtaxed.

Too bad they all -- along with the usual do-gooders who constantly editorialize in this paper about the need for "accurate" and "yearly" (God forbid) assessments -- do not fully explain why most of us always pay more taxes after an assessment. Why? Because no one attempts to hold school boards or municipalities accountable to make sure millage rates are changed to reflect the (always) total area assessment increase. When did you ever see before and after rates published for public scrutiny and review? My, these boards and boroughs are all smiling now: more revenue coming that they do not have to justify -- party!

But, all is not lost. I just opened the mail and in it is a check for $75 for my 2009 property tax rebate, compliments of the Fast Eddie Rendell/Bloated State Legislature Society for the Creation of Meaningful Property Tax Relief created in 2002. Now my dog can eat for a month.

BILL MARO
Jefferson Hills

Dishonest debate

Is it just me or has anyone else wondered why the Republicans and so-called Blue Dog Democrats are against the public option because it's run by the government? Then why don't they do the honorable thing and repudiate their own government-provided health insurance?

The morally bankrupt Republican Party currently in office doesn't represent the people, but the insurance companies, drug companies, big oil and anyone else who provides campaign money and who knows what else. Also, when these politicians leave office they're given lobbyist jobs or other high-paying positions.

Another thing: Those phony protests at the town hall meetings and the march on Washington sponsored by the insurance companies and the Republican Party prove they can't have an honest debate when they resort to storm-trooper tactics to disrupt and silence any honest discussion.

God help us if this is what passes for democracy in these United States.

THOMAS GILFOYLE
Brentwood

Cost of no coverage

I bring to your attention a matter most important. Having been a nurse for more than 30 years, I have had the privilege of helping people in their time of most need.

Now I see more patients and their families without adequate health-care coverage, or none at all. These problems actually increase health-care cost and increase length of stay in hospitals. We can't get these patients to be accepted to a skilled facility or discharged safely to home. We have to do the right thing, the patriotic thing, the Christian thing, and help those in need!

Our country needs health-care reform now, which includes the public option. I support my taxes and energies going to provide affordable health care to all my fellow Americans.

LINDA McCARTHY
Observatory Hill

A Catholic welcome

As a member of the Catholic Church, I would like to welcome all the Anglican faithful who are seeking full communion with us ("Vatican Plan Would Ease Anglican Conversion," Oct. 21).

And I'm sure that I speak for many of the more than 1 billion Catholics in the world who feel the same way.

In fact, the only person who might object to this reunion would be Henry VIII, whose opinion on religion never should have mattered much anyway.

JOSEPH CARDUCCI
Mt. Lebanon

We're No. 1?

The PG's Bob Hoover suggests that Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library system is in worse shape than other urban libraries and consequently branch closures here appear inevitable ("Carnegie Library Cuts Long Overdue," Nov. 1). Why is the Pittsburgh system in such relatively dire straits?

The shrinking population of Pittsburgh is one reason postulated by Mr. Hoover. But Cleveland has shrunk about as much and the average number of patrons served per library branch is similar in both cities (15,500 in Cleveland and 16,300 in Pittsburgh). Yet, as Mr. Hoover noted, Cleveland, like other urban areas he investigated, is not closing branches.

Differences in local tax support offer a better explanation. Cleveland residents pay a special property tax to support its library system ($27.9 million in 2008). The Pittsburgh library receives its local tax support almost exclusively from the Allegheny County Regional Asset District 1 percent sales tax ($17.6 million in 2009).

On first glance, these local tax burdens seem comparable. However, Pittsburgh residents only pay an estimated 20 percent of the total countywide RAD sales taxes. Consequently, only about $3.5 million of the RAD money allocated to the Pittsburgh library system was generated by Pittsburghers. That's just $1 in local taxes collected from Pittsburgh residents to support its library for every $8 collected in Cleveland.

For whatever reason, Pittsburgh seems to undervalue its magnificent Carnegie Library system. Without a change in tax priorities, Pittsburgh may earn another No. 1 ranking -- the first to close neighborhood libraries for lack of money. Call it the "Pittsburgh Un-Promise" initiative.

THOMAS AUBLE
Regent Square

Paltry and insulting

As a McCandless resident and employee of Northland Public Library, I am disturbed by the city of Pittsburgh's paltry annual pledge of $40,000 to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Assuming a city population of 300,000, that is 13.3 cents per resident. The excuse I've heard is that Pittsburgh gives more than that because the library receives money from the Regional Asset District. However, RAD is not funded by Pittsburgh, but by the 1 percent county sales tax, which is paid by every resident and visitor.

Most county residents support their own local library, pay the county sales tax (which goes into RAD) and pay state taxes. We don't claim that paying one or two of those means we can skip paying the third. This means that most county residents pay about 13 cents less than city residents to support the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, yet also support their own local libraries by paying dollars per resident.

Why is Pittsburgh not able to do this for its own library? Why are the county and state residents financing its library while it pretends it's paying more than it is? Wilkinsburg manages. Why not Pittsburgh?

I am happy to support Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. However, I am not happy to keep supporting it in lieu of Pittsburgh's support. It is time for Pittsburgh to step up to the plate, change its calendar from 1895 to 2009, and stop pretending that $40,000 is anything but an insult to those who do pay for their own libraries.

MEGAN PARK
McCandless

Our first Halloween performance was our last

Saturday's Portfolio column about trick-or-treaters in Iowa brought back childhood memories ("No Joke: Trick-or-Treaters Must Perform," Oct. 31). My father, who grew up in Nebraska, insisted that my brother and I would need to perform at each house if we wanted to trick-or-treat.

We laid low until I was in the first grade and learned a Halloween song in school that I thought I might be able to teach my brother, who was 4. That year we trotted up to the neighbor's house for our first trick-or-treat ever, and started into the song. My father kept watch at the curb. The woman at the house was both flustered and confused and kept telling us we didn't have to sing, but I told her that indeed we did or we would not be allowed to accept any candy.

At the end of our performance, I turned to my brother and asked if he wanted to keep singing, and between us we decided that one song was all we had in us. We never trick-or-treated again, but spent all of our Halloweens handing out candy to our friends who always felt very sorry for us.

LANI WALKER
Mt. Lebanon

Thanks for Norman's thoughts about Nader

Tony Norman's column is one of the very best things about the Post-Gazette and is a must-read for me and my wife. To read his column is to read the words of someone who is not afraid to let others in on the secret that he is actually human.

His column following the G-20 ("A Guest With an Iron Fist," Sept. 29) was a gem, and his willingness to admit the shame he felt at having written a column that applauded Ralph Nader being knocked off the ballot in 2004 and thereby applauding the stifling of democracy, only reaffirmed my high opinion of Mr. Norman ("Nader Deserves More Respect Than He Gets," Oct. 23). Imagine Jack Kelly, Charles Krauthammer or David Brooks admitting of shame or error ?

While there is a small part of me that is thankful every day that Barack Obama is our president instead of John McCain, as a Nader supporter the past three elections, I can look at myself in the mirror without anger and embarrassment, no matter how many people mindlessly inform me that I wasted my vote.

I'm hoping that Ralph Nader, or some other worthy alternative, does run in 2012 because when it comes to casting my vote, I can't think of better advice than that offered by Eugene Debs, who said, "I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it, than vote for something I don't want, and get it."

WILLIAM H. STEEN JR.
North Side

Name that fungus

I was disappointed in your Local News section last Thursday morning to read your description under the "Fall Colors" lovely photograph, "Toadstools hang on the side of a dead tree ... ." Any longtime member of the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club, as I am, would easily identify that fungus as Armillariella mellea or honey mushroom clinging to that dead tree. At least I think that's what it is.

JOAN MORSE GORDON
Oakland

Why accept what's incorrect?

We now have a Pittsburgh college professor teaching students that speaking incorrect English is OK ("Teachers Offered a Lesson in Urban Vernacular," Nov. 2)? As a retired teacher, I say that is ridiculous and totally unacceptable!

They are in college to be correctly educated and to learn how to aim for a more professional job after graduation. "Black English" is an extremely poor choice.

JEAN SHIELDS
Penn Hills

Can't wait to respond to our letter writers? Go to community.post-gazette.com/blogs.

We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.

Town Talk, a discussion forum on issues of the day, is featured exclusively in the Opinion section on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.