— from Phil Heikkinen —
When you look in the Voters’ Guide at the dozen programs and services to be funded by this proposition, you may think as I had that most of them already have existing stable funding sources. However, they simply don’t.
We should not take for granted the existence of many if not most of the items on the list, such as Meals on Wheels, 4H, the County Fair, Emergency Management, Victim Services, parks maintenance, and others. None of these is a lavish program, and many provide important support for vulnerable members of the community.
Speaking of fiscal responsibility, I can attest to this as a volunteer for IOSA, the Islands Oil Spill Association. We hope to revitalize this crucial organization, whose mission is to provide a quick response to oil spills in our county, by leveraging tax support with additional funding from industry partners. Currently, the closest help for oil spills is hours away.
This tax levy will truly provide money well spent.
Please join me in voting for Proposition 2.
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Before you decide to vote yes on this, please do take a real look at where the money will go and make your decision. I must admit, I am on the fence…..
I am voting with Phil in support of Proposition 2!
Thank you, Janet. I strongly support Prop 2 as well. Without this passing these programs will be severely hindered. This is a MUST pass in my view.
This higher levy lift will no doubt pass, as it is presented as the only way to “save “ key programs initially put on the chopping block long ago to persuade voters to increase County spending. It was presented then as a temporary lift to get us through hard times. Well, a decade later, we are quite flush, yet the County hasn’t bothered to incorporate these basic public services into its regular budget! And now the County wants to INCREASE this levy lift. It’s about time the County started acting in a fiscally responsible fashion and included all basic services in its regular budget. We already pay property and other taxes to fund the County. Let’s use THAT money for basic services and put discretionary spending — like the shiny new County administrative center—on the ballot.
P.S. I strongly support the programs in question. I oppose the County’s misleading tactics to get more money.