AVCOG needs to pay up.

The Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments owes the city of Auburn $25,358 in property taxes.

The city did not tax the quasi-governmental organization for six years in the 1990s. The organization was then granted yearly waivers by the city from 1997 through 2002. Earlier this year, Auburn Councilor Bob Mennealy questioned the practice.

Research into state law determined that AVCOG is exempt from paying sales and income taxes, but is responsible for property taxes.

We understand that AVCOG might not have anticipated this change. After all, they have never paid property taxes on their Manley Road building.

But that doesn’t release the organization from its obligation. Other property owners who find themselves on the paying side of rising assessments don’t get a break because they didn’t plan for an increase. AVCOG shouldn’t get a free pass either.

The alternative is a court fight that could be costly for the city and the organization. Such a waste of time and money probably isn’t in the budget either.


Measured response
The Department of Agriculture changed its policy on the slaughter of sick or injured animals last week in a measured response to a much-reported case of mad cow disease.

The new regulation bans the sale of meat from “downer” cattle. Basically, if a cow can’t walk, it can’t be slaughtered for meat. The change is a policy reversal from just a few weeks ago, when similar regulations were stripped from a bill in Congress.

In this case, something bad had to happen before agriculture officials, Congress and the Bush administration could recognize a good idea.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, is fatal. It turns the brains and spinal tissue of an infected animal soft, and one of the early signs of the disease is the inability to stand or walk.

Even before the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, the USDA forbade the use of meat from downer cattle in school lunches. Eliminating downer cattle from the general food supply is a good step for increased safety.

The human variation of mad cow disease is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. And like the mad cow, it is fatal. The illness doesn’t make the jump from animals to humans easily. Studies in Britain suggest that the disease cannot be passed to people who eat muscle meat, like steaks and roasts. The danger comes from eating the intestines, brains or spinal tissue, which aren’t common on U.S. menus. The danger from a single contaminated cow is very limited.

But fear of the disease has caused a crisis in consumer confidence over the safety of beef, and food in general. Several countries in Asia and Europe have banned the importing of American beef, and an otherwise stellar year for domestic ranchers ended on a very sour note.

When it comes to food, the government does a pretty good job making sure it’s safe, but the beef and meatpacking industries have resisted this reasonable regulation. Now, on the question at least of crippled cattle, they have no choice.


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