Abra cadabra. Now you see it, now you don’t. That’s what the Lewiston City Council has done with property tax relief supposedly given to the homeowners. Its answer is to saddle the homeowner with another fee that will grow, as all fees do. Taxpayers are looking for tax relief, not political sleight of hand.

The answer is to control spending, not to keep writing checks that homeowners can’t pay. The city manager must like Halloween, since he seeks to scare residents into believing another fee or revenue increase (aka raising taxes) is what is needed.

What is needed is a city that runs on what homeowners are able to afford. Responsible people live within their means, don’t spend and hope to get a raise to cover it. That sounds like an idea city officials should consider.

I was one of the first 10 to sign the petition, and I have never met David Hughes or Larry Poulin before that morning. The Sun Journal can raise questions about the petitioners’ intentions, however, my only intention is to stop another fee from taking hold and growing into a giant redwood.

What’s next? Would officials charge a fee for the area of my car the rain falls onto while moving in the city?

Jayson Vallone, Lewiston