By Christopher Wenk, Alexandria (File photo)

To the editor:
It has been famously said that laws are like sausages — it is better not to see them being made. But sometimes we have to look.

And the ugly details were helpfully reported in the Times’ story about city council’s plan to hike real estate taxes once again (“Councilors support tax hike for infrastructure,” April 28). Council has explained that the tax hikes are necessary to pay for important infrastructure improvements and city capital projects. Fair enough.

But deep in the details we see that the biggest portion of the increase — $3.4 million — will be used to fund a new city preschool center. Talk about a nanny state.

Now, I don’t have anything against small children. But is this really the type of public infrastructure program that the city should be getting involved in? Why are my property taxes being raised to pay for a publicly funded kiddie flophouse?

It is time for City Hall to get back to basics. Let’s reserve tax hikes for traditional infrastructure projects that cities need to perform. And let’s leave it to parents and families to decide how best to pay for their own kids’ preschool education. No new tax hikes for toddlers.