To the Editor:
As I paid my first half property taxes this week, I was shocked to realize they have gone up 36 percent since 2010. During that same period, the cost of living adjustments for those of us on the federal General Schedule have increased salaries all of 3.5 percent. With corresponding increases in our sales tax rate, other taxes and fees, parking meter rates, and other ways we've been nickel-and-dimed over the last several years, in addition to rising food and (for several years) gas prices, I would not be surprised to learn that many residents have seen their disposable income lower now than at the beginning of the decade. I feel lucky that I'm not being taxed out of my home, but others may well be, and the tax situation in the city seems untenable nevertheless.
Adam Pearlman
Alexandria