Referendum

To the Editors of the Crimson:

It was heartening to read in your March 9 issue that Harvard students and Phillips Brooks House will be involving themselves in the campaign effort for the special referendum election to be held in Cambridge on April 13. Unfortunately, the article's description of the issue at stake in this election was not placed in context and was therefore incomplete and misleading.

It the two ballot questions pass, Cambridge will be able to level-tax and level-fund its public services in the coming fiscal year, instead of being forced to make drastic (10%-25%) cuts in police, fire, schools, health, public works, human services, libraries, etc., as would be dictated by Proportion 2 1/2.

Voters are not being asked to increase taxes. In fact, that is utterly forbidden under the law. Voters are being asked to forego a second consecutive 15% property tax reduction.

The version of the new law that the Legislature finally passed states the ballot question in terms of "additional" taxes, but that is only in "addition" to what Proposition 2 1/2 requires Cambridge to first cut, so that the net change would be zero. Anne Strong