The recent attempt by a state legislative candidate to plead with Colby and Thomas colleges for a donation to the city was bound to fail (“Waterville council rejects move to tax Colby, Thomas colleges,” Sept. 17). Further it shows no real knowledge of the situation that can only be solved with a full understanding.

First of all, I would suggest that the request for donations, if made at all, should be made to all tax-exempt entities in the city. I have always held that this is a problem in the aggregate and that all the tax-exempt property owners have to understand that. Then, having made that point, I would look to the Legislature to address this serious problem. I do believe that if all the tax-exempt parties got together and developed a legislative strategy that they would carry, we would be looking at the root of the problem. They would have the political clout to work for full funding of the state revenue sharing deal that all municipalities have signed on to in good faith. Second, the revenue-sharing formula must be rewritten to take into account the land area available to communities and how much of that is tax exempt. A simple ratio would do.

Nowhere does the law address this key factor.

I realize that the above proposal would require repeal of the Republican tax cut for the well-off to restore the funds available for this initiative. Perhaps that could be why a Republican candidate for the Legislature would take this path of a beggar’s stance. But this is a state-induced problem and therefore the solution must come from the state.

Stephen R. Aucoin

Waterville