July 4^th Independence Day
Frank Hogg 6/29/1

As Independence Day approaches I am drawn to the memory of our forefathers and the Boston tea party. Back then our forefathers rebelled against England for increasing the tax on tea and the colonists did not have any representatives in government. The refrain was 'Taxation without Representation'. Just a short time ago two events happened in Preble. The Town Board decided to authorize a reassessment of 1/2 of the town, the Lake District. The result is that all of the homeowners in the Lake District had their taxes raised 15% while 80% of the town board members effectively got a tax decrease! In protest of this the only member of the assessment review board from the Lake District resigned. This means that although the Lake District is more than half of Preble we have less than 10% representation in town government. Indeed it is 'Taxation without Representation' right here in Preble. The result of this has been a ground swell of anger over the way we are treated. They want our money but we are outsiders otherwise. In the last few weeks I have been approached by several people about the possibility of forming our own town and splitting from Preble. Due to the minimal services the town provides and the high taxes we pay this may be a very good idea for us. It is likely we could provide more and better services for ourselves and lower our taxes at the same time. However, this would have a disastrous effect on Preble. Their taxes would rise dramatically and that would hurt the many friends we have in town. I have counseled the people from the Lake District to wait until the caucus in August. If the town board pulls a fast one like they did 2 years ago and prevents a fair election then we can explore a separation. So let's wait and see what happens. Mark your calendar for August and make sure you get to the caucus of your party. If we can't change things at the caucus the election is over and we will explore separation.

Frank Hogg