Op Ed: The Blame Isn't Local - It's Everywhere

For many reasons, I am writing this letter. It truly has been the toughest tax season in my experience as Jefferson County Treasurer. The cost of inflation on our everyday items, gas to get to work, rents and more have just continued to rise. Now so have taxes. Our assessments of our homes, homes that some of us have lived in for more than twenty years, have skyrocketed during the last reappraisal cycle.

Higher assessments lead most government agencies to lower the mills so as not to collect more money than needed for their annual budgets. In fact, county governments are limited by an inflatio...