Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to cruise the Caribbean with my family. The warm sun… beautiful Islands… friendly people… fund excursions… exciting non-stop activities… drink of the day… amazing shows… exotic ocean life… great people watching… All of this was fantastic!

One of the most wonderful parts of cruising is the opportunity to consume more food in a week than you might have otherwise consumed in a month. You can eat constantly… 5, 6, even 7 meals a day. In fact you begin to "need" more meals as the week progresses. I felt the need to try everything on the buffet for breakfast, enjoy lunch in two different restaurants, order 2 main courses for dinner (with dessert – although it was small), squeeze in a quick bite of pizza before the show and grab a couple sandwiches - and a cookie - before bed.

For those of you who have cruised, you know the pinnacle of this eating frenzy is the midnight buffet. On one special night you top off the above described day of eating with a beautiful midnight buffet that would rival any glorious dining experience you’ve ever had. Or… at least they used to have midnight buffets. It seems tough economic times have caused the cruise lines to rethink what we "need" when it comes to eating.

How does this relate to property taxes? Well, I’ll tell you. It seems to me that spending for local government have become like my eating on a cruise ship. The more they spend, the more they "need". Where three meals were needed, now five are needed. This might explain why property taxes have risen every year since the 1930’s to an all time high of $400 billion in 2008. My favorite cruise line eliminated the midnight buffet. When will local governments eliminate theirs?