April 15 taxes taxpayers' good humor.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - "I'm not a happy camper," Jim Goeser declared as he marched into the Gateway post office with tax return in hand Tuesday. "My taxes are out of sight."

And yet Goeser, a retired accountant from Springfield, said he's not sure if he supports President Bush's call for additional tax cuts. "If he keeps cutting taxes and putting us deeper in debt, how are we going to run the place?" Goeser asked.

Millions of other Americans - including several of the hundreds who beat the tax filing deadline by dropping their returns off at the Gateway complex - appear to share Goeser's sentiment.

With the country at war and facing budget deficits, six in 10 Americans say this isn't the time for more tax cuts, according to an Associated Press poll conducted earlier this month. Three of four Democrats and even a majority of Republicans - 56 percent - said it would be better to wait.

Bush already has pushed through one round of tax cuts - the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 - that resulted in slightly lower tax rates in 2002 for the top four tax brackets. The rates for taxpayers in the two lowest brackets, however, stay the same.

The president on Tuesday began a campaign to build support for his proposal to cut taxes by an additional $726 billion over the next decade. His critics say the cuts, if imposed, would benefit mostly higher-income taxpayers.

John McIrvin, a retired telecommunications manager from Eugene who paid his taxes on the due date, said he's skeptical. Additional tax cuts "would certainly stimulate the economy, but I'm not convinced it would make much difference for the normal working person," he said.

Kathy Weeks, an engineering technician from Eugene, said she and her husband are paying additional taxes rather than getting a refund this year "because we went from deductibles to no deductibles" - the last kid has left home, in other words.

But Weeks said she questions whether more tax cuts are wise. "My concerns are what's going to be cut and who's going to get hurt," she said. "If it's just (targeting) bureaucracy and overspending, that's good. But I don't think lower-end people need to suffer."

Ernita Quick's initial reaction to a tax cut was positive: "If I get to keep more money, it's a good idea," the Pleasant Hill resident said.

But Quick added that it would depend on what it affects.

If schools and fire and police departments faced cuts, "then I'd have to really think about it," she said. "Money in the pocket is not always worth having, depending on what you're giving up."

Jody Thomas, a veterinarian assistant from Eugene, said she doesn't believe any major tax cuts will occur - and if they do, the government will find other ways to collect the money it says it needs.

"They got to get it somewhere," she said. "I just pay my taxes and try not to think about it because it gets me too upset."

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S t o r y l a b e l Please turn to TAXES, Page D5 Taxes: Would cuts help the average person? Continued from Page D1 "My concerns are what's going to be cut and who's going to get hurt. If it's just (targeting) bureaucracy and overspending, that's good. But I don't think lower-end people need to suffer." KATHY WEEKS TALKING ABOUT TAX CUTS Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard Cars form a double line (background) at the Gateway post office on the last day to file income taxes, but there were walk-ups, too. Janice Marshall braves the rain to give her tax forms to postal worker Jamie Connell. The Gateway office stayed open until midnight to accept returns.