I read with interest Sherman Creson’s letter (April 9). The veracity of the letter may be summed up in his statement, “North Carolina has higher taxes than any state that borders it, and has more government employees than every state in the Union except New York and California.”

I was particularly struck with the claim that we rank third in government employees. I immediately thought this could only be true if he included federal employees and military personnel stationed in North Carolina.

The implication of the statement is that he is referring to state employees. I researched the subject, and the most recent figures I could find were employees on state payrolls in March, 2004.

These numbers indicate that nine states (California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio) had more state employees than North Carolina. Georgia was the only state with a 2000 census population greater than that of North Carolina, which also had fewer state employees.

Mr. Creson’s undocumented statement about government employees raises questions about his entire letter. Is his decision to support Joe Boylan based on fact or fantasy?

Roger Neilson

Seven Lakes