To the editor:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Douglas County version:

‘Twas the day before Thanksgiving and in our mailbox was the 2006 Real Estate Tax Statement. With the 34 percent increase in tax amount owed over 2005, the Christmas season has become very Scrooge-like; bah humbug!

While still smarting from unexpected income tax liabilities earlier in the year, we now have another unexpected huge increase to contend with in the real estate tax. The real estate appraisal increased 26 percent in one year, which is bizarre since only routine maintenance and repairs from the April hail damage have been completed.

Our paltry household income increased only about 2 percent over the same 12-month period. Cost cutting for unbudgeted expenses is continuously a way of life for our survival; taxing authorities should do so as well without gouging taxpayers.

The story of our 2006 will end bitterly, unlike the stories of the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge.

Rodney Carr,

Lawrence