Taxes: "The difference between politics and leadership."

Tom Eblen has a must-read in the Herald about the Lexington Public Library.

Since then, the Lexington Public Library system has become a model instead of an embarrassment. Its modern buildings, resources and services have made Lexington a more literate community whose citizens are better able to compete in a knowledge economy.

Since the final Court of Appeals decision 25 years ago, the percentage of Lexington residents with library cards has risen from 30 percent to 46 percent. Last fiscal year, nearly 2.75 million items were checked out from public libraries — an average of 10 per Fayette County resident, up from four per resident in 1984. Computer literacy is now essential for people to keep up and get ahead, and Lexington’s libraries last year provided computer-skills classes for 4,192 people. Libraries contain 237 public-access Internet computers that were used 482,710 times last year.

Sure, the former library director wasted taxpayer money on travel and fancy meals. Taxpayers are cheated by wasteful government spending, just as stockholders are cheated by wasteful corporate spending. The way to solve those problems is through better management, oversight, transparency and accountability.

Nobody likes paying higher taxes — or any taxes at all. It doesn’t matter whether the economy is good or bad. Appealing to personal selfishness has always been good politics. But that’s the difference between politics and leadership.

At a recent symposium in Frankfort, several economists pointed out that Kentucky taxes property less than most states do. They also noted that Kentucky law gives cities and counties few ways to raise revenue to meet their special needs and make long-term investments in their communities.

Rather than seeking state permission to turn an excellent public library system into a mediocre one, Urban County Council members and Mayor Jim Newberry should take another approach.

They should keep pushing for better management, more transparency and greater accountability of taxpayer-supported agencies to make sure money is being spent wisely.

They also should lobby the General Assembly for more local taxing authority — and not be afraid to use it to fund important public services and investments that will make Lexington a more just, prosperous and pleasant place to live.

Read the whole thing.

U.S. Supreme Cort Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes nailed it a century ago: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."