We believe, and we have not wavered from the belief, that we have reached the limit on what we should be taxed.

We also believe that every adult citizen of this country should bear his or her fair burden of taxes to support local and federal government as well as local school boards.

The problem is that more than half the potential taxpayers in this country pay no taxes after credits are given by federal and state governments. As a result, the remaining 49 percent are paying way more than their share for the services that everyone enjoys.

Here in Newton County, we are more than likely about to have our taxes raised to support our school system as well as to offset expenses in county government.
In an editorial last week we stated that raising taxes in order to help balance the budget might be a necessary evil. However, this editorial board feels that every cost-cutting measure should be exhausted before the millage rate is adjusted.

The school board has released its tentative budget, which includes a millage rate increase.

Frankly, we don't feel that enough has been cut to justify asking the people of Newton County to shell out more tax money.

We talked to some local business people this week. A few said they did not want to pay any more taxes, others said they thought a tax increase would help maintain or improve the quality of education in our community.

Because Georgia's education system is ranked at the bottom of all 50 states, we have a difficult time agreeing with those of the latter sentiment.

Until we develop a state and local school system that uses the resources it has, we are just throwing more of our hard earned money into an inefficient system. That just does not make good sense.