City’s gravy train has left the station

I’d like to make something perfectly clear to our City Council, and to any entity expecting to hold residents hostage by increasing sales and property taxes, utility fees or another unspecified fee: We won’t sit idly by while you burden us to the point of bankruptcy. (“Burbank poised to adopt budget with 2.5 million in cuts,” June 7.)

This taxpayer has hit the wall. All the goodwill is gone, and it’s high time we tackled the unpleasant elephant in the room.

Our city has the reputation of paying employees approximately 20% more on their paychecks than other cities in the Southland. We also give employees a wonderful and extremely generous benefits and retirement package. It’s time to change this policy.

Our City Council can’t expect residents to keep lowering their standard of living while employees of Burbank enjoy the gravy train. It isn’t tenable any longer.

If our City Council is going to relieve residents of some worthy senior subsidies and our youth of a valuable bus pass subsidy while expecting residents to willingly accept new taxes and fees, then we expect to see some deep, deep cuts in areas that are uncomfortable to talk about and without hesitation, demanded.

No longer will we be taxed into oblivion without recourse or expectation of seeing those taxes and fees reduced when the economy rebounds. No longer will we accept what you say as necessary without checking, rechecking and haranguing you if we disagree.

The gravy train left the station in 2008, and it’s not going to return, ever.

Pamela Lang
Burbank