HomeMy WebLinkAbout022425 email - Comment Opposing formation of PFD for PoolALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
I am opposed to formation of a public facilities district (PFD) for a pool because the county and the city are not sufficiently addressing how unaffordable our county is becoming.
A – PFD with an appointed, nonelected board - can incur public debt and seek regressive sales taxes, property taxes and lodging taxes, all of which could compromise our ability to afford
investments in infrastructure, housing and economic development incentives, which are more important than a deluxe swimming pool.
Also, it appears that a PFD could repeat the foreseeable but fundamental and costly mistakes made by the Fort Worden PDA. Moreover, the PFD would be able to run up a much larger debt
than the PDA, saddling everyone with a huge debt for a pool few will ever use.
Have you thought about how expensive it's become to live here? This weekend, Redfin listed just 25 single family homes for sale in "Port Townsend."
Of those 25 homes, 13 were priced at more than $1 million, and four were priced at more than $2 million. The least expensive home was $435,000. The median was $1,300,000, and the average
was $1,404,031.
People buying these homes can likely afford a pool tax, and have the time, if not the interest, to use a pool. But the average person will never use the pool, and the many who struggle
to make ends meet here have neither the budget for more taxes nor the time to use a pool.
The way that the city and county have favored a small group of pool promoters over the needs of everyone else is hardly a good example of democracy.
Barney Burke
Port Townsend