I can't help but wonder whether the defeat of the proposed Kingston school district budget on Tuesday was, at least in part, the result of last year's deception about property taxes.

You may recall that, a year ago, the Kingston school board announced the proposed 2007-08 budget for the district would increase the overall property tax levy by 3 percent. What trustees neglected to announce, until more than three months after that budget was approved, was that the actual tax rate for homeowners in the city of Kingston would rise by 7.6 percent. (Residents of other, smaller communities in the school district incurred smaller increases.)

The current board would be foolish to think that voters -- at least those in the city of Kingston -- aren't still angry about last year's tax hike. And on Tuesday, that anger may have been enough to send the 2008-09 budget to defeat.