To the editor:

Lawrence is a good community, a community of citizens.

It is those citizens which make it good and keep it good. We must do everything possible to ensure an excellent quality of life for the citizens of Lawrence. The university attracts excellent people from around the world. Doesn’t it make sense to support these people after their formal careers are over?

One thing the university can do is offer professors and other employees a home in Lawrence as well as pensions when they retire. This builds deeper roots with the Lawrence community and invests in Lawrence’s human capital. We all have a stake in the stability and quality of Lawrence’s future. Toward this end we (Kansans for Common Sense and Accountability, PAC) have proposed property tax reduction and elimination for citizens of Lawrence who own and occupy their own homes when they turn 65.

Pensions need to be fully funded, whether they are government or private plans. Lawrence residents who depend on pensions bring money into Lawrence from outside the community, but they spend it here. They do NOT need a lot of expensive infrastructure to attract new residents and keep existing residents in our community.

Pressed by rising energy costs, health care expenses and 10 percent annual property appraisal increases, seniors on fixed incomes are hard pressed to stay in the homes they have always known. Support our city and the citizens which make it great and stable. A community is built on its people, not increased spending or industrial tax giveaways.

Rex Youngquist,

Lawrence