To the Editor:

Why are the property values in the city of St. Ignace increasing each year? With many properties for sale and not selling, with multiple foreclosure notices posted in The St. Ignace News each week, with the economy in the tank and unemployment soaring to new highs. Our taxes are increased each year by an inexplicable increase in the property's value. If a property owner questions this, the answer given is that the only properties that are selling are the high priced properties, so all other properties increase in value. If only that were true.

I would like to see The St. Ignace News do a serious inquiry into this. For one thing I would like to know if the city council members' homes have increased in value these last two years, and especially the properties of the person who believes our property is on a constant increase in value, since he is responsible for these increases and he believes my property has increased, as well as many others - I would like to know if his also has increased. As for me, I've had enough and as soon as the market improves and I can recover at least the original cost of my home, I will sell both our homes and move out of the city limits. For me, that is an easy option, but for many lifelong residents on fixed incomes, there are no options. It's just not right and something should be done about it, but first of all we need the local paper to get the facts and present them to the community in this paper. Daniel G Fenlon St. Ignace