Worried about steady property tax increases

Published 9:38 am Friday, February 14, 2014

So, from the end of the 2009 school year to the end of the 2018 school year the school district has found justification for a 45 percent tax increase for just the local portion of school daily operations?

A 20 percent increase in one year alone and a built-in 3-plus percent increase over the next four?

Where is this local money coming from?

From 2009 to current, one portion of the local workforce alone had a 0 percent pay raise with no hope in sight for anything better. Leading up to that point, the local workforce endured a 70-100 percent increase in property taxes. Now, the school district wants 20 percent in one year with four more increases while the workforce sits hoping for a 1 percent pay raise.

Now, let’s talk fixed-income retirees who have property taxes with built-in annual increases. Or not. I think you get the picture.

People are not against the funding of schools, just the constant increases without proper justification. How much longer can one own a home before they are taxed out of it?

Ted Newman
Poulsbo