To the editor:

The chickens are finally coming home to roost for Lawrence citizens. Just over the horizon are catastrophic property taxes for every dwelling in town. The retired and downtown businesses, being ahead of the curve, will attempt to cut a deal with City Hall for lower taxes. Where are the advocates for the rest of us? This city is being held hostage by its downtown and affiliates, with 44 percent of potential Lawrence retail sales leaving this city for surrounding counties.

In addition, there has been resistance to adding manufacturing jobs to Lawrence. Meanwhile, commercial and residential construction has grown and created taxes for the last 25 years, but it seems now that it is being strangled and suppressed by some citizen and special-interest groups.

Most people who have been a part of Lawrence construction have prospered in that period of growth, whether with higher-than-average wages, selling real estate, mortgage companies, land developers, home builders, wholesalers, suppliers and the city itself through property and sales taxes.

But, today there’s a cold unwelcoming wind blowing through this town. Everybody who can leave for greener pastures is doing it. If construction volume stays down in Lawrence and property taxes double in the next five years, can anyone question that new construction has been paying for itself and then some. Then the street improvements, new sidewalks, new bike paths, new parks and a $60 million library will be paid for by its longtime citizens. We’ll have a real quality of life issue then.

Doug Garber,

Lawrence