When I saw the list of expenses Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish suggested the commission cut during its May budget talks, there were two I immediately knew would cause a stir: traffic patrols and fireworks.

Commissioners did cut the fireworks, saving $13,000. Talk immediately started about rounding up private donors to put on the Fourth of July show. As is our custom in Athens, we waited until the last second to quit talking and do it.

It’s a widely-held believe around town that the fireworks display was a poison pill cut out of the budget to take revenge on the pesky taxpayers who demanded no millage rate increase. A “See what you’ve made us do!” sort of thing.