My UFO friend's statement must be given careful thought. For in a sense, his speech is allegoric.
He really seems to speak in parables. His statement that Shorewood's “purpose in expanding its tax base is to attain money to remove the snow from our sidewalks” most be interpreted very carefully.
In a sense he means, 1) that the tax base must be expanded. And 2), the purpose is to attain additional money and not necessarily for for new services.
The purpose of the additional money is either to redistribute our tax obligations or to reduce our taxes generally, or perhaps both or perhaps additionally for such services as snow removal.
This too, may call for redistribution. Also anticipated costs of services are going up, so we must attain the additional funding. Here this might be more than the the administrative interpretation.
Let's go back to the original parable. We might interpret it in this way: if we don't expand our tax base, we won't be able to remove the snow from our sidewalks or we shall not be able to do other things as well.
So, I interpret my UFO friend's parable to mean, that if we really want to maintain our services, let alone, remove the snow from our sidewalks, we must expand the tax base.
Now, I think we know what it's all about. Fine. Next time we talk, UFO guy and I, I shall ask for him to speak in clearer parables.
