Once again, Donn Esmonde has it wrong. His answer to the city's woes is to award the city a greater share of the county sales tax (i.e. give the monster more money). Esmonde's rationale is that many middle-class Buffalonians have left the city for the suburbs - taking their taxes with them and leaving the city destitute. It's just not fair, says Esmonde as the eternal moralist. The truth, of course, is far messier. Many Buffalonians left the city not for the Southtowns, but South Carolina. The idea that all of Buffalo's tax money is sitting in Clarence, Amherst and Orchard Park is not only ludicrous, but smacks of class and regional warfare.
Esmonde's contention is that the towns have prospered at the expense of the city. His solution is to revive the city by ruining the towns. But the city won't be easily revived. Pumping tax money into Buffalo will not alter the bloated union contracts which have the citizens paying top dollar for their scant services. More money will not cure a defunct school system, nor will it attract corporations into an overtaxed city. Additional revenue will not change our political class. You can't make statesmen out of the spineless and self-interested.

In fact, sharing the sales tax with the city may lead, in the long run, to less tax revenues throughout the region. County Executive Joel Giambra has promised that this type of revenue sharing will lead to a tax increase. This will, no doubt, chase more businesses and residents out of the region. Hey, South Carolina's looking pretty good.

DAVID M. HAYES
Amherst

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