01:00 AM EDT on Monday, September 13, 2004

I'm sure that anyone who has lived in Rhode Island for more than a few months realizes that we are just about the most overtaxed state in the Union. As a lifelong resident of more than six decades, I figured I had experienced just about every nasty deed our politicians could pull on us. Boy, was I wrong!

Last December, I registered two used Vespa motor scooters and paid a total of $469 in sales tax. Six months later I traded in the bikes for one larger one, for an out-of-pocket expense of $684. When I went to turn in one plate and transfer the other to the new bike, I was taxed on the full cost of the new bike -- which was $5,100, so I paid an additional $357 in sales tax. No credit for the two trade-ins!

Then, a scant two weeks later, I traded the new Vespa for a larger but less expensive bike. I traded even and figured there would be no sales tax. Oh, silly me. I was charged another $325 in sales tax for a trade that had cost me nothing out of pocket. Bottom line: I paid a total of $1,151 in sales tax for a bike that didn't cost me a dime!

"Only in Rhode Island" is a phase that is traveling all over the country, and with good reason. When are we going to wake up, turn out our spend-spend-spend sleazy legislators, and vote in a responsible state government? This time around, maybe? I doubt it.

WILLIAM TOOHER

Chepachet