I was amused when I first heard of the Palesky tax cap proposal because I was sure it was just a “this too shall pass” idea, but it is very obvious that isn’t the case.

My husband and I own a home in Eddington and a home in La Quinta, Calif., so I know of what I speak. California’s Proposition 13 has been in effect for 26 years, and I am only sure of the facts of the 17 years that we have been homeowners there.

First, in California, our real estate taxes are only 65 percent of our total real estate tax bill – the added charges are 35 percent of it. As a result, our total bill is really 1.5 percent of our purchase price, not the 1 percent as mandated in Proposition 13.

Second, annual add-ons are $600 for sewer treatment bonds, $180 for school districts, $94 for Coachella Valley Water District, $248 for trash pickup, etc. Gated communities and non-gated communities will have figures arrived at differently, but the total comes out about the same (65 to 35 percent).

Third, Coachella Valley has several affluent communities, but the majority of the cities are working class, with English being – at best – the second language of many of the residents.

Fourth, schools are operating without sufficient funds, in spite of what others might think.

An acquaintance of ours is a middle school teacher in Indio, Calif., and while the majority of her students need remedial reading assistance (English is their second language), there is no money available for tutors or teacher’s aides. She recruits her friends and acquaintances to work with students in her classroom, and these dozen or so volunteers are on a regular schedule so that she always has help in her classroom when she needs it.

The La Quinta Arts League has a large number of people who teach art in area schools as the art budget was axed a long, long time ago.

When a family lives in the same house for a long time, it is very true that their base real estate tax bill doesn’t increase from the 1 percent of the purchase price, as established in Proposition 13. That means that the money for the municipal and county budgets needs to come from somewhere, because expenses obviously don’t remain unchanged.

Tax cap legislation isn’t the answer for the citizens of Maine, it is an unfair and lopsided solution. Capping government spending would be so much more fair and equitable. Capping government spending, however, does not mean simply cutting educational programs and funding just because that is the most obvious and vulnerable expense.

If we don’t properly educate out children today, those uneducated people will be making decisions for the elderly in the future.

Linda J. Conn is a summer resident of Eddington and spends winters in La Quinta, Calif.