As city, county, school, state and other government officials gather this fall to talk about budgets, they should think about the hard times people are in. Then they should consider what forms of governmental revenue are regressive and which forms of revenue are progressive.

There is a big push to hold the line on property taxes. This push is led by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but it has carried down to local levels, too. However, property taxes are one of the most progressive taxes. The higher the value of your property, the more tax you pay. The rich pay more than the poor.

We aren’t crazy about higher property taxes, either, but we’d rather see them than more fees. Mostly, we’d prefer to see a reduction in staff or services as the tight economic times call for it.

Even so, in an effort to halt increases in property taxes, many officials want to increase fees for services, rather than making cuts. Fees, however, are regressive. No matter how rich or poor you are, you pay the same. It’s harder on the poor person to come up with the amount than the rich person.

For instance, let’s use the Albert Lea Senior Center. City officials will need to decide whether to boost the amount the city pays for the Senior Center or whether to increase fees on the members. The amount the city pays, of course, comes from the city’s property tax revenue.

The Senior Center is not meant to be a self-sufficient operation. It is one of the amenities to a decent quality of life in Albert Lea, a reason to reside here. Raising fees only will hurt less-fortunate senior citizens. Raising property taxes spreads the cost among all Albert Lea residents. Cutting city staff is the other option. Avoid the fee hike.

The same goes for amenities such as the city pool, the public library, the municipal airport, the transfer station and so forth. Albert Lea residents would rather pay for these through taxes than through fees.

Some argue only the users should have to pay, but should only people who have fires have to pay for the fire department? Should only people who drive have to pay for streets? Let’s be a progressive, pragmatic city, but keep a sharp eye on the size of government.