. . . And Taketh Away

While a few Americans were making donations to the U.S. Government, the citizens of Willimantic, Conn., were doing their best to keep their money out of the hands of local officials. When one town official predicted that the property tax rate would be going up again, after a 50% jump since 1968, fed-up and frustrated residents jammed into the town meeting to vote no, no.

After two versions of his budget were rejected, Mayor David J. Calchera, 30, had to find a way of borrowing money to keep his government from shutting down. This week the mayor will submit a new budget that is $140,000 below last year's, a 6% cut. "If we go much lower," said he, "this city won't be worth living in."

Willimantic's citizens who bit the hand they had been feeding for so long realize that inevitably, they will end up paying taxes. Still, they feel that the fuss has been worthwhile. "Like throwing tea into the harbor," says one New Eng land mother of three, "we know it's just been a symbolic act. But it has raised our spirits and stopped our taxes from rising, and nowadays those are two pretty important victories."

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