Whispering the word “tax” these days is nearly as dangerous as shouting “fire” in a theatre; the mere mention of the word can create panic, and a desperate desire to flee.

For many people, hearing the word, and imagining its consequence, can create a tightening of the spleen, the jaw and the proverbial belt.

And lately I hear the word bandied about by politicians and pontificators like a giant, “Oh, YEAH? Well watch this!”

The refusal to raise taxes and the refusal to make cuts to support a refusal to raise taxes, these are two swords currently clashing in the General Assembly as it battles its way toward next year’s budget.

Although I don’t tend toward an aversion to taxes, I agreed with several supervisors earlier this year when they said that raising taxes on people, at a time when those people may barely be getting by, is a pretty dismal prospect.

But now I might be changing my mind.

Seeing how the tax issue is playing out in our capital, witnessing the brutal cuts being suffered by our state’s educational and public safety systems, is making me nervous.

Not because I am afraid that my taxes might be raised; but because I am afraid that they might not.

Go ahead, accuse me of bleeding heart maternalism, but I worry.

I don’t like to think that anyone will be denied services they need and deserve to be safe, healthy and ready to avail themselves of the opportunities we all deserve.

So I was contemplating the tax issue as I read through Goochland County Administrator Rebecca Dickson’s proposed budget.

Dickson had anticipated the question that will, especially during a troubled economic time, inevitably be asked regarding a new budget: How will this affect ME?

She outlined several scenarios, explaining how a two-, three- or four-cent real estate tax increase would affect homeowners based on the value of their property.

And I don’t know, I am still ruminating on the topic of tax, but I am not sure that these increases aren’t worth it to preserve life as we know it in Goochland County.

As Dickson presents her proposed budget this week, citizens may want to sit back, and really listen, and read, and consider the options.

Despite months of reckoning, both the schools and the county have realized shortfalls when trying to balance their respective budgets.

As each of those budgets already reveal deep wounds, the prospect of slashing further seems painful indeed.