To the editor:

People who want services and have the ability to pay for them should do so, and budget them into the cost of running their business.

Why are we always having people compare us to other cities for salaries or how we’d look like Maple Hill? Kansas University has the Endowment Association, the Alumni Association, a big sports department, performing arts department to make money and it can build new buildings, streets and traffic lights, but it doesn’t know how to maintain its buildings.

Students come from all states and countries. Why should just the people from Lawrence or Kansas get stuck with higher taxes to maintain these buildings? Don’t expect the taxpayers to feel it’s an honor to keep these buildings running. You wonder why real estate taxes are going up each year.

The same goes for all-day kindergarten. If the parents want this service, they should pay for it, not the taxpayers.

We should repeal the 1 percent for the arts and give it to the KU maintenance instead of increasing real estate taxes again. No wonder Lawrence real estate is slowing down. People are leaving because of taxes!

Mary Ann Kieffer,

Lawrence