I'm writing this letter on behalf of my daughter, Jeanne Petron, who owns PET ron's Boarding for Animals in Staples, because I believe the citizens of Staples should know all the facts when it comes to fairness, regarding real estate taxes and assessments.

My daughter retired from her nursing job in Chicago in 2001, and chose Staples as a desirable city to live in. She located a comfortable one bedroom home on four and one half acres on which to operate a small dog kennel business.

Everything went smoothly the first few years, until a building contractor and the City of Staples decided to build a road adjacent to my daughters property. This so called improvement added no extra value to her property, but the city did assess approximately $105,000 to the property, and the appraised value of the property is less than $55,000.

She has complained about this seeming injustice, but to no avail. This situation developed without any prior knowledge on the part of my daughter.

My daughter is self employed and partially self supporting, despite the fact that she has multiple sclerosis (MS) and has had two broken hips. How would you feel if you owned a home free of debt, only to find over night that you now owed over $100,000 to the city for taxes? Scary, isn't it?
Dick Petron
Long Prairie, Minn.