According to the state statistician for the Bureau of Taxation in Augusta, there are nearly 60,000 sales and use tax form recipients in the state of Maine. Of these, about 25,000 are monthly recipients. The rest are seasonal recipients who report either seasonally or quarterly.

This means that each month the state sends a single form to at least 25,000 or 30,000 businesses at a cost of up to $8,700 per month or $104,000 per year.

Why doesn’t the state send one pack of 12 sales tax forms once a year? This way they would save huge amounts in postage ($92,000), lots in envelope-stuffing labor (two people to hold the envelope, one person to fold the form, one to stuff, one to lick and six to lean on their proverbial shovels and watch — except on their 104 weekend days, their 21 paid vacation days and six paid holidays), and don’t forget all those extra envelopes which get wasted. What about them? There’s another $12,000 wasted each year.

If certain state representatives spent as much time repairing this kind of ridiculous waste in Maine government as they do seeking money for re-election, they would not have to seek money. Voters would clamor to re-elect them. Should we be voting for candidates because they have money or because they save us money?

Is it really too much to expect that our representatives in Augusta might have instituted this tact long ago? Well — now you know the rest of the story… James Dickinson Surry