The Palesky tax scheme reminds me of what Hitler’s propagandist once said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

The big lie is that Palesky can pass and municipal services will somehow continue untouched. Radical reductions in the property tax will result in radical reductions in schools and learning, libraries and literacy, safe roads and safe homes, and more.

It is “magical” thinking to assume that the state or federal government will fill gaping holes in municipal budgets should Question 1 be approved. The state has major financial problems, and the federal government has the biggest deficit ever (while simultaneously cutting income taxes and waging an expensive, unnecessary war for the first time in history). Our national leadership refuses to fully fund No Child Left Behind, special education and many other mandates that further burden local property taxes.

I have worked 14 years to expand the charming, but cramped, Auburn Public Library. Thanks to exceptional efforts by APL’s Capital Campaign, employees and volunteers, plus the remarkable generosity of citizens, businesses and the city of Auburn, APL is now renovating and expanding for its second century. If people vote for the “free lunch” Palesky proposal, all of these efforts may be for naught.

A yes vote will close schools, libraries, fire stations and more. APL could be mothballed for years, waiting for enlightened voters to re-open it. This need not happen. Vote no on Question 1.

Richard S. Whiting, Auburn