The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority has come up with a novel (and illegal) way to sneak a tax increase through so they can buy up land indiscriminately. All property owners should have received a ballot in the mail - if over half of the returned "weighted" ballots approve, then they will be able to tax us "in perpetuity" - meaning forever, and they call it an assessment. Please read the article in the Silicon Valley Taxpayers, Inc, web page (www.svtaxpayers.org). This is the latest in special tricks used to rip off the taxpayers.

- George Swenson