[Letter by Brian Holloway, City of Snoqualmie resident. Views expressed are those of the author, not the Living Snoqualmie website. You may submit letters to [email protected].]
The Snoqualmie City Council is holding a special meeting on Monday to vote on two tax levies for the November ballot. I am advocating that the Council vote against both tax levies.
Tax levies are a big ask, and there has not been enough information provided to the public and, from what I can ascertain, to the Council to make an informed decision. Hard sell tactics should be expected on a car lot, not in a discussion about City tax rates. The mayor needs to put in the work and lay out a case for exactly what has been done to reduce costs and the trade-off of reallocating existing revenue streams. Then there can be a discussion on how much extra revenue is needed to maintain the quality of service the residents of this City want and deserve. That is a discussion voters should observe and learn from, but we elected a Council to actively dig into the details. It is clear that a rigorous discussion and budget evaluation has not occurred at the Council level. So they should vote no and, frankly, use their powers to make sure that the level of detail they need to make an informed choice is provided by the Administration.
The Council needs to do their job. They are a co-equal branch of our City government with tools at their disposal to encourage and, if needed, force the Administration to provide the information they want and need to do their job. A good start would be to set a precedent that they are not a rubber stamp by not putting the levies on the ballot until they can support all the details that justify the ask.
Comments
Well said. It’s sad that the council and mayor need to be reminded of this.
I agree. I’m not against more taxes per se, but want more information and not a blank check, I understand we had to let go some police after the north bend contract but wonder what the current police staff are doing without a casino, truck stop, and outlet mall. I basically know, seeing two of them out on the Parkway sometimes. We need more parkway enforcement, especially during school zone time but my perception is our police force is looking for things to do now that they aren’t dealing with North Bends issues.
It is not reasonable to insist that the city council drastically cut parks and streets, police and fire, planning and support all without allowing the voters a choice. The options have been laid out publicly and in-depth over the past 2 ½ months including a two-day long council retreat with detailed presentations from department directors in mid-May. The author of this article has not offered a single suggestion, despite 200 pages of details on options. We will have almost three months for voters to learn the choices and decide. Let democracy work, let the voters decide.
@CG – it seems like I see Snoqualmie police a lot more since they are no longer also serving NB. Which makes me question where our $ was going before.
Thanks for saying it eloquently. Seems like home owners have become the local government cash cow. Heaven forbid they find a way to balance a budget without the ask. I have a few friends that work for other local City government and the complaints about the people ” working ” from home Not working is pretty hard to listen to. Have to figure it is not just Redmond/Bellevue