Letter to Editor | Renewing Land Bank is a good economic decision

||| FROM JOE GAYDOS |||

Renewing the San Juan County Land Bank is a smart economic decision for islanders. More often than not, the one-time 1% real estate excise tax on the purchase of property is paid by people that are moving to San Juan County from somewhere else. These folks are making an upfront investment in a place they plan to call home. 

Some have suggested that San Juan County is losing tax revenue when properties are purchased by the Land Bank. While building more homes does increase the amount of tax the County collects, building more homes also increases the need for services that we pay for with property taxes. San Juan County’s “Cost of Community Services” study showed that when land is developed, the added tax revenues from development don’t cover the additional services required, which ultimately means that increased property development will increase our taxes or reduce our services.

On the other hand, setting aside forests, open space, and shoreline doesn’t just give us nice places to recreate, it is a way for us to maintain natural capitol that provides services we all depend on – like production of clean air, sequestration of carbon, clean drinking water, and protection of our shorelines so we can have a healthy county and a healthy Salish Sea. I’m a huge fan of fiscal responsibility and I’m voting yes to renew our Land Bank.