Regarding the letter “District creates stable funding”: The writer states that a Metropolitan Parks District for the city of Snohomish would ensure funding for basic maintenance, extend the Riverfront Trail and add parking at the new boat launch. She further stated that these items are the first to be cut during hard times. At least something gets cut!
The letter states that under the law, the tax rate could never exceed 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That really doesn’t sound like much until you start adding all the other 30, 50 and 75 cents together that go onto your tax bill. Just this past year, my property tax after adjustment by the auditor’s office, increased by $328 per year. So you have to be careful, look and think about what you’re suggesting. That is if you own property and pay taxes. If you don’t own property you shouldn’t be suggesting anything that will cost all those who do own property!
Benefit districts that are trying to rally support, like the Fire District 1 and now your Parks and Trails District, are just added taxes. They are in my opinion nothing more than a means by which influential individuals can get gobs of money without any transparency or oversight as to where the money is being spent. They never go away or have show justification to those who are footing the bill, the tax payer.
Why is it the people in this state think they needs over 3,500 miles of trails and a park on every corner or in every neighborhood? They only get used by a fraction of the people paying the bill.
A better idea would be to charge the cost for maintenance and operation to those who actually use those parks. This would be similar to the state parks season pass. Wouldn’t that seem a little more fair? That way we could hire numerous individuals to process all those passes and permits, it would be a win-win.
Hilra Nelson
Everett
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