Here are a few things that puzzle me having to do with the state, taxes, subsidiaries, etc.

To begin with, last I knew, the valuations of every town were based on the real estate and the value of property sold in the past year. My idea — why not base the valuation on the average income of households in a town? A lot of real estate sales came from someone from out of Maine who sold their homes for twice or more than what the same house would cost in Maine (ever since the early 1970s) and then were able to buy upscale housing in Maine that natives cannot afford.

So, that’s one wrong base for the state to use, and that affects school budgets.

Next, ever since the Legislature voted to have lottery profits go into the general fund, the towns don’t get the same percentage of that money to help with their budgets. I voted to let the lottery into Maine because some profits would go to education expenses. Now, every towns’ share of expenses gets higher and higher, more and more put on the towns’ taxpayers. And the state is fining districts and towns for not joining school unions (which will end up costing town taxpayers more and more for gasoline, wear and tear — you name it).

What type of state government is that?

Marylyn Bachelder, Strong