On setting tax rates

Alderman Christopher Robinson said I missed one of the arguments being made in last night's tax debate.

Robinson's position -- which, he's right, I didn't catch -- was that the amount being drawn from the fund balance should be reduced but that the tax rate should be left where it was rather than increased proportionately. His reasoning was that the city is consistently winding up with surpluses in the million dollar range, so obviously city residents are being overtaxed. The aldermen, he said, could afford to set the tax rate in anticipation of the underspent expenditures the city typically sees.

I leave analyzing the merits of this argument to you, dear reader.