Mr Laing’s observations would be true and solidly reasoned if Newburyport were at a perfect equilibrium point where the size of the City (value of property and thus the tax base) covered the basic overheads and necessities of the city.

In business there is the concept of the “break even point”. That’s defined as the level of income, in our case taxes, which are necessary to cover fixed costs. Once the “break even point” is met, all new income only has to pay for variable costs and in effect a profit is realized.

In the case of Newburyport, it seems to me that our strategy should be to grow rapidly toward a level of a property base that gets us to a “break even point.” Then we can provide services needed and get ourselves out of the destructive spiral of cutting based on tax burdens rather than “choosing” based on prudent management and priority setting.

Ron Martino, Newburyport