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Community News, ​Arts & Events

Opinion: "Property Tax Payers are Under Attack in Jefferson County"

9/18/2017

15 Comments

 
To Our Elected Commissioners:

It is time for our elected BOCC to consider the needs not only of the low income population of Jefferson County but of the approximately 25,000 parcel owners who elected them.

Foremost: calling the low income housing shortage in our county an “emergency” is an inappropriate exercise of the BoCC’s discretionary authority. I am appalled that the Commissioners would even consider putting the measure to a vote. A problem that has been years in the making due to economic and demographic circumstances, that has not been otherwise addressed by the Board and County action and, by the very proposal, that would take 7 years to even attempt to correct cannot be called an emergency. Also consider this: to label it as an emergency subjects the County, and therefore, the taxpaying citizens to legal challenges for which we will all pay.
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Beyond that fundamental problem with the proposal, my purpose is not to dispute the rationale for needing more affordable housing in our county, but to urge the Commissioners to recognize that: 1) the County government has not taken the first steps to alleviate policies, zoning and high development fees that may stand in the way of developing more affordable housing units; 2) the tax paying property owners of Jefferson County are under attack by all government sectors in Washington; 3) instituting another property tax increase only serves to undermine affordable housing, because owners of rental properties will have to pass the additional cost onto renters; 4) by increasing property taxes you are making it harder for the residential property owners of our county, especially those on fixed incomes, to remain in our homes. The Home Opportunity Fund is not the solution.
1) The County Government should first take steps to clear its own development policies, zoning restrictions and fees which stand in the way of developing low income housing.
  • Where are the sewers to permit multifamily housing? The Tri-Area sewer plan has been talked about for years yet there are no new locations within the county that would permit multi-unit development.
  • We are NOT Bellingham and Vancouver. We have neither the number of properties to tax nor the sewer and road infrastructure to support a Fund. Mr. Morley’s often-quoted comparison to these large communities is, therefore, specious.
  • Even for single family housing development, the steps and fees for getting a new septic system permit are increasingly onerous – promulgated, might I add, by the very Public Health Department that you would put in charge of the new Home Opportunity Fund. I note the July 12, Leader article regarding slowdowns and pull-backs in multi-unit residential development. Would County regulations, bureaucracy and attendant costs have something to do with that? What about the tantalizing potential for future grants and loans from the proposed Home Opportunity Fund?
  • I have no faith that the money to be dispensed by the proposed fund would not be disproportionately spent on fees to designers and architects who would be battling environmental and zoning regulations imposed by the County. Instead, shouldn’t the County be promoting fast-track development and tax relief for developers willing to build affordable housing?
  • Call it what you will, this is a housing subsidy and once such a tax is enacted, the County will be faced with “doing whatever it takes” to house low income residents. The long term effects to taking on such a mission cannot be taken lightly.

2) The property tax payers of Jefferson County are under attack by all sectors of Washington government. Consider these new and proposed taxes that have occurred and will continue for years:
                       School District #50 Bond 2016 20 years - $ 1.178 /$1,000
                       WA State education budget increase 2018 - 0.91 /$1,000
                       Proposed Home Opportunity Fund 7 Years - 0.36 /$1,000
                                                                                                      $ 2.448 /$1,000

Coupled with the significant increase in home values over the past year, a homeowner in a house valued at $300,000 would be paying approximately $734 in NEW property taxes. A housing shortage years in the making should not fall solely on the shoulders of an already stretched segment of your electorate. If the Commissioners are convinced this is a problem they should look for other solutions, including tax breaks for developers and sales taxes.

3) Instituting another property tax increase only serves to undermine affordable housing, because owners of rental properties will have to pass the additional cost onto renters.

4) By increasing property taxes you are making it harder for the residential property owners of our county, especially those on fixed incomes, to remain in their homes. Have you not noticed that the supporters of the Home Opportunity Fund are all non-profits who pay no taxes?

In summary, it is irresponsible of the Commissioners to approve a resolution to move this proposal to a vote by the citizens of Jefferson County. Furthermore, this is certainly NOT the year to add another levy to our escalating property tax bill when property owners have not even seen the effect of other new taxes and increased property values.

As elected Commissioners, you should do your job for your constituents and say NO to putting this proposal on the November ballot. At present you are just throwing Mr. Morley’s proposal “over the fence” to let the voters decide without thoroughly considering alternatives and the consequences of what such a levy would mean to ALL the citizens of Jefferson County.
​
Georgette Semick
31 N Rhododendron Drive
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Phone: 360-531-2737
15 Comments
John Ammeter
9/19/2017 08:11:05 am

I'm a 5 generation Jefferson County resident. My GG Grandfather homesteaded in Chimacum Valley and built a large farm raising dairy cattle. My Great Grandfather homesteaded at the end of the Van Trojen Road on 160 acres. My two brothers and I still own the farm while one brother lives on it. We believe in supporting Jefferson County but.... If anyone wants to build or develop land in Jefferson County there are so many obstacles thrown into the planning and building process that people are discouraged to the point they simply won't get a permit or move out of the County to more friendly pastures.

Reply
George Sickel
9/20/2017 08:51:19 am

Great comment. I could have said it better. Just more of the liberal thinking that taxing in the only solution rather than tackling the root causes.

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Steve Crosby
9/20/2017 11:17:35 am

An interesting thing about our county, every year more people die in Jefferson County than are born. If no one moved here the housing shortage would turn into a surplus in 6 months.

This begs the question. How much should current residents be forced to pay in order to subsidize new comers?

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Rachelle (Burt) Merle
9/23/2017 10:02:28 pm

Excellent question.

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Larry Dennison
9/24/2017 08:20:00 pm

The folks who need affordable housing are not all "newcomers". Many of those who can't find affordable housing are long-time residents trapped by the combination of low minimum wage jobs without benefits and who can barely afford the basics.

The local housing real estate market has increased as rapidly or more so than Seattle, yet when adjusted for inflation, wages have fallen. The minimum wage in 1965 was around $1.60 an hour. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics it would take $12.60 an hour now to stay even with 1965. Our current minimum wage in Washington is $11 an hour. How could someone making minimum wage possibly afford our radically inflated rental rates?

Seniors living on a meager Social Security payout averaging $1300 a month are in the same fix. Social Security has increased only a small fraction compared to rents, even in subsidized housing. If we lose young working families and if seniors are unable to keep up with the rent market, then what?

As a Christian nation, we are called to help and share with our neighbors. How can we claim to be caring and sharing community if we are not willing to pay an extra $10 or $15 a month to share with our neighbors who are trapped by rapidly increasing housing costs and low incomes with no prospect for keeping up with current housing inflation? For the price of a couple of sodas or cups of coffee a week we can help maintain the social and economic diversity that any community needs to stay economically and socially healthy.

It is up to each of us to decide if it is worth it to dig a little deeper to help our neighbors through this very tough time, or to decide it's not our problem or it can be fixed by the death rate growing faster than the birth rate.

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Steve Crosby link
9/24/2017 11:45:01 pm

Larry you are so close to understanding this. On the Homes Now website the superintendent of school lectures us that we need more people to move here with school age children.

The political State Supreme Court (which takes donations from the WEA) just raised our property taxes to give teachers a $10,000 per year raise because the Legislature was sued by a teacher from Chimacum.

Homeowners will soon start paying for a school we do not need .

Homes Now is a campaign run by two teachers who in their working years earned 400% of the median county household income. They are asking that seniors on Social Security whose one asset is their home to "dig deeper" so that young families can move here to prevent teachers layoffs and keep our brand new unneeded school open. The real crisis for the local WEA is that census data shows a decline of 576 people age 5 to 18. in just the last 5 years. No amount of subsidy is going to change this.

We used to be the most geriatric county in Washington. Now we are the most geriatric county in the country. 50% of us are senior citizens. 4500 homeowners are "cost burdened" most of whom are seniors. For God sake Larry, when we dig deeper we come up empty handed.

Yes locals are facing a housing crunch. But for every unit you build by taking money from homeowners, 4 families will show up from Seattle and elsewhere. Nothing short of taking the GMA boot off the neck of development will change anything. Chose wisely Larry, you can robust post GMA home building or we can keep our unique rural lifestyle.

Reply
Larry Dennison
9/25/2017 08:09:37 pm

Interesting response, Steve. Too bad it misses the point entirely. This is not about school teachers, the WEA, or the number of school enrollments. Is it possible that we have been losing younger population because of the lack of affordable places to live? Is it possible that Seniors living on Social Security might be among those who need help? I appreciate the work and thought you have put into your response, but really what this comes down to is whether we are willing to pay $10 a month (Avg) to help young families trying to live on minimum wage, and seniors who can't afford to own a home but must rent in our overheated housing and rental market. If you don't care about those people, don't vote for it. But don't dig up red herrings like this being pushed by teachers, who you say make four times the the county median wage. You are not making your case for poor retirees and the working poor. Those are the folks who would benefit from this levy. In fact we all benefit from a community that is diverse, with young working families, middle class workers, and senior citizens of all economic means.

Reply
Steve Crosby
9/25/2017 10:18:49 pm

Only a handful of the poor retirees will benefit. 1250 of our neighbors are already living in low income housing. No benefit for them.
The 1560 cost burdened low income renters won't be helped much by the 40 new low income units that are projected to come on line in 2020.
The truly cruel blow dealt by this measure falls on the 3015 low income homeowners who will be crushed. Yes it is the rich and powerful WEA that bringing these poor homeowners to ruin with McCleary, Grant St and Homes Now demanding $1000 per year that they don't have. Maybe your young working families will be able to come here when the elderly are foreclosed into the streets.

Lois venarchick
9/25/2017 08:44:00 am

When all other avenues to encourage builders to develop low income housing are exhausted, when short term vacation rentals are regulated, all form of local government waste are found and eliminated as much as possible; then, and only then, should we be discussing a tax increase. Tax increases are not the first reach to answer. So says this woman, a 40 year resident soon to be living not just on my low income but a fixed income, who worries ALOT about bring taxed right out of her home and property after a lifetime of hard work.

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Ron Gregory
9/25/2017 03:51:52 pm

This proposed property tax will effect the county homeowners who are on the margins. HUD estimates there are about 3,000 home owning households that would be negatively impacted by this tax.
Shame on the county Democrats for supporting this tax! There-a-gain have you ever seen A tax the Democrats were opposed to?

Reply
Larry Dennison
9/27/2017 04:40:52 am

Prop 1 a non-partisan political issue. The Jefferson County Democrats have not been asked to endorse, nor have they endorsed this ballot measure. Why? Because it is a non-partisan measure and the issue of helping our neighbors in need is not partisan. If someone choses to try and make it so I have to question their true motives.

Prop 1 is about helping to keep young families and low income seniors secure in homes in our communities in Jefferson County--period.

I choose not to be distracted by those who attempt to make it about politics or teachers, or any other nonsense. I choose to pay a little extra money each year to help folks who have few choices for shelter available to them. It's that simple. If one chooses not to support these folks, you don't need to make excuses.

Reply
Craig Durgan
9/28/2017 08:09:45 pm

Prop 1 is simply the acknowledgement by the BOCC that they have instituted bad policy and regulations. This has been going on for nearly 20 years. It is no surprise that there is a shortage of affordable housing. There have been no apartment building build. The only option at this time is to vote NO on Prop 1 and then proceed to remove the current BOCC from office.

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Lauri Chambers
10/12/2017 12:05:52 am

Could someone tell me how to find out who is funding the Prop 1 campaign and who is funding the No on Prop 1 campaign? Thank you.

Reply
Steve Crosby
10/12/2017 09:15:14 am

Prop 1 is funded by the Bullitt Family fortune and a Washington DC Lawyer. They also received a valuable in kind gift from Progressive Strategies NW.

The No side is funded by local homeowners who fear being taxed out of their homes.

Reply
Larry Dennison
10/12/2017 11:58:46 pm

Steve, your suggestion that the Yes campaign is funded by the Bullitt Family fortune is laughable, but a Washington DC lawyer? Where do you guys come up with this crazy propaganda?

It goes without saying you are not the least interested in helping the less fortunate in this community, but to try and make the issue about anything other than an attempt to help our neighbors, many of whom are veterans, is a shame. It's pretty easy to see what is going on here. I hope you never find yourself in need of help from your community.


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