Tax time — the time of year when we all have a look at personal documents and records — can be quite revealing, as one can see big changes over time that won’t be as apparent on a year-by-year basis. My property taxes in Dillon have gone up over 50% in the last five years. For comparison, between 2006-2016, 10 years, they had only increased 20%.

Today, we are all paying for programs that are not supposed to be the responsibility of government, as our elected officials see public tax dollars as a bottomless pit for them to spend. Yet voters keep approving these increases, while more and more social programs are added, uncontested.

We now pay for workers’ housing, their babysitting, parking structures for Vail’s customers, education and health care for illegals, an endless list of handouts, far beyond the “essential” services government is expected to fund.

Meanwhile, locals now pay for parking in towns, at ski hills and to access our trails. Those that have always been able to afford to live here won’t be able to for much longer, as we are now also paying for those that can’t afford it here.

It’s time to start voting for less government and less spending.