High taxes hurt Iowa; enforce efficiency

Regarding Gary Roberts' Monday letter: Gary wants to know if, in the future, someone may not want to purchase his property because of the high property taxes. It's happening now and has been happening for some time.

I moved here in 2005. After looking around at a number of properties, finding many my wife and I liked a lot, I decided that under no circumstances would we buy in Marion or Cedar Rapids, simply because of the property taxes.

We bought new construction, putting the tax man off for two years, in Robins.

I now have an escrow payment of more than $500 a month for the taxes, which is considerably lower than Cedar Rapids or Marion. However, we moved from Las Vegas where my property taxes were raised to $634. For the entire year!

I know of highly qualified people who have turned down high-paying jobs here because of the taxes, property and income.

It's time for the residents of Iowa to recognize this for what it is. Elect officials who will enforce principles of efficiency and rid the government of waste. Your education system isn't working, and throwing money at it won't make it better. Reward performance, not overtime. Get some gray hair in there where experience and memories will benefit everyone.

Andy Branigan

Robins