Letter to the Editor
August 8, 2006

Dear Commissioners:

I was unable to attend the public hearing this morning. By my calculations, county general fund spending has increased 92 percent more than necessary to maintain a constant level of services since 1990. That is based on taking actual 1990 general fund expenditures and adding in CPI estimates from the Labor Department and county population estimates from the Census Bureau to get to a comparable level of services as the county provided in 1992.

In my opinion a budget that grows 92% faster than needed to keep up with population and inflation is too big!

I did not realize until I read the paper today of the plan to build an aviation training center. The Wichita Eagle reported that Cessna, Spirit, Bombardier and Raytheon want the center. According to public statements the top 10 execs of Textron and Raytheon made more than $48 million last year. Here is an idea: ifthey want an aviation training center, why don't those multimillionaires buildone themselves instead of strong-arming the little old lady who lives down the block from me?

Thank you for your time.