The cost of Proposition 1 to the owner of an average home would be $2.51 per year - less than a penny a day, less than a typical drink at Starbucks. Compare that, for example, to the benefits of the Aviary's Avian Ecology in Schools education program, which in the past two years has helped more than 2,300 fourth-graders learn about birds, science and the environment.

Finally, it cannot be argued that this investment is "gilding the lily." Anyone who has visited the aviary recently knows that it is in desperate need of help. Without the bond, there is a frightening likelihood that the aviary might not exist in a decade's time. When the time comes to vote on Proposition 1, I hope Salt Lake County voters will agree that losing Tracy Aviary would be far too high a price to pay.

Pete Taylor

Trustee, Friends of Tracy Aviary

Salt Lake City