TO THE EDITOR:

It is hard to put your money where your mouth is. It is easy to make decisions with somebody else's money.

I have read in The Journal both sides of the new high school issue. I read where Lincoln County's population was purported to grow and therefore a new school was justified. Truth is, obtained through several iterations of Open Records Act Requests, that the Lincoln County school system is forecast to shrink. Every grade, every year for as far as the school system forecasts. That is the sad truth.

The taxpayers of this county are now millions of dollars in debt building a bigger school to house fewer students. This is the truth whether you agree with the new school or not. This is the truth no matter if you voted or not. It is just the truth.

So what do we do now? The answer is we pay more because of this subterfuge. And we have to decide how to do it. The school bonds are supposed to be paid back with sales tax. Many counties use sales taxes to give property tax relief. Historically Lincoln County has not done that. In the last eight years, have your total taxes gone down? No, they went up 91% per capita according to the GA Department of Revenue. I read in the Journal a week or so ago that the school bond salesman said our property taxes might have to go up. Again. So what do we do now? We must shop locally. We need to spend our money right here in Lincoln County.

When we shop at Wal-Mart in Thomson, an appliance store in Augusta or at Home Depot in Augusta we are subsidizing those counties' tax base, not ours. To that end, I want to encourage you to buy what you need right here. Merchants - Get your pricing competitive. Shoppers - On major purchases, like an appliance, ask one of appliance stores to match the price. If the price locally is a little higher, I offer, from personal experience, the repair service associated with one of our stores is excellent. You get what you pay for. Look at the total cost and include the cost of the new school that the school board is going to get from you one way or another.

Now back to the money and mouth axiom. If any of the Journal's readers see any vocal proponent of the new school shopping at Wal-Mart in Evans or Lowes in Augusta, for example, please bring it to my attention. In particular if you see any member of our opulent school system, teacher or board member or their spouses shopping there, bring that to my attention. I will buy an ad in the Journal to publish their name, the amount of their property tax funded salary and demonstrated lack of support for our school system. I understand there are some things you can't buy in Lincolnton, but it ain't much in the way of life necessities.

Now lets see what we see. I like to listen with my eyes as talk is cheap. And I'll take this opportunity to coin a phrase - Next time put your vote where your mouth is.

NELSON BROOKS