HomeMy WebLinkAbout120824 email - PFD DiscussionALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear Commissioners Eisenhour, Dean, and Brotherton,
Please see the attachment.
The members of Healthier Together Task Force, as guided by their leaders, Commissioner Brotherton and the JAC, has obviously drunk the Kool Aid, and has decided to recommend moving forward
with a PFD mechanism along with its purely regressive increased county-wide sales tax taxing system in order to potentially build a new public aquatic center in the county. Particularly
problematic is that there is already a more than functional pool facility in our county, especially if that facility had the appropriate renovations and modifications. From the language
of the attachment it appears as though the plan is to inappropriately, in my opinion, use LTAC money as a funding source for the PFD establishment and its operational expenses. The
concept of this potential new aquatic center, built in the county, being some sort of utopian cash flow producer, job producer, etc. is just fabricated nonsense being used to try to
manipulate the voters/ taxpayers and to run cover for those who are promoting and supporting this flawed idea.
This is all especially pretty rich when our outgoing governor has just imposed a complete state-wide spending freeze for all state departments and agencies on all unnecessary spending,
hiring, projects, etc. due to the $10-$12 billion dollar budget shortfall that the state is expecting over the coming years. This is even more rich in that the Association of Washington
Cities (I am sure the counties will be on board with this too) is likely going to ask the state legislature to increase the arbitrary allowed 1% annual increase in property tax, without
approval of the voters, to 3%. This is even more rich in that, due to the loss of an outsource for recycled glass in our county and state, a state-wide 10 cent per bottle reclamation
tax/ bottle bill may be on the new taxing docket in the legislature as well. This bottle tax idea is yet another completely regressive tax that would be riddled with misappropriations
of funds funneled into the state's general fund to be likely used for more frivolous spending. This is all in line with the state's Democrat Party majority based tax and spend philosophy
with no fiscal responsibility; again, check out the $10-$12 billion dollar budget shortfall that our state faces. This is crazy, especially if you look at how much our property taxes
have gone up in the last 5-10 years. Where is this money going? Most cities, counties, and the state government have acted like spoiled college kids with daddy's credit card regarding
their spending philosophy/ habits.
I guess we need to be prepared for a startling waste of taxpayers money by a misguided potentially newly formed PFD, with no track record and no experience, as this newly formed entity
will have to spend significant tax dollars, LTAC monies, which there will not be enough of, in order to produce the pre-development protocols required for a new publicly funded capital
improvement project. More consultants, more studies, more A&E expenses, etc. more waste. I have zero confidence in any new county public entity/ taxing district, especially one that
will be heavily influenced by the city, to get anything related to this PFD funded new aquatic center done correctly. The city's track record on this issue speaks for itself. Like I
have said all along, when this publicly funded/ bonded fiscally irresponsible capital improvement expenditure idea fails, the property tax payers will be on the hook to make good on
the loans/ bonds and the needed funds to pay for and keep the facility operational, and maybe even needed to complete the build-out in the first place. I guess we can just expect that
property tax increase to be added to the 3% annual increase the county will likely be imposing on us as well. Maybe it's time to cancel the credit card!
Mark L Grant