Editor,
On Aug. 17, 2010, 71 percent of voters shot down Island County’s Proposition 1 property levy tax.
Any “law and justice” $2.6 million fall ballot measure is simply Prop 1 gussied up to make it appear as if it something entirely different, but it’s the same thing all over again and voters should reject it, too.
Proposition 1 supporters conducted forums to inform the public about why the county needed a tax increase, laced with a bunch of scare tactics telling us how bad it would be if we did not approve Prop 1.
Those forums ended with former Island County commissioner John Dean saying, “The purpose is to provide voters with enough information to make a choice.”
“We are committed to doing whatever voters decide,” he said.
After Prop. 1’s defeat, Island County Commissioners simply created a brand new “Clean Water Utility” taxing district and took more property tax revenue anyway.
It seems Sheriff Mark Brown is now pretty much “channeling” Commissioner Dean.
When speaking to me recently about this proposed property tax increase, Sheriff Mark Brown said, almost verbatim: “The purpose is to provide voters with enough information to make a choice. We are committed to doing whatever voters decide.”
As the economy improves and property values increase, prioritizing those increasing tax dollars towards “law and justice” is what Island County needs to do — not again raise property taxes.
Voters should say “no” again to Prop 1, or to whatever it is going to be called this time around.
William Burnett
Oak Harbor
