7/30/07, Proposition 1 - Public Safety Levy Lid-Lift

Election Day Tuesday, August 21
Proposition 1 Ballot Title and Explanatory Statement for Public Safety Levy Lid Lift

This proposition would fund critical public safety needs, such as additional fire and police personnel and school safety programs. It authorizes an increase in the regular property tax rate for collection in 2008 of $0.35 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, for a total rate (if only this proposition passes) of $1.53 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The 2008 levy amount would become the base upon which levy increases would be computed for succeeding years.
Should this proposition be approved?

Explanatory Statement The City of Redmond relies on property taxes to provide basic services such as police and fire. Redmond’s current total property tax rate is $1.18 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The proposed increase of $0.35 per $1,000 of assessed valuation would be about a $145 annual increase on an average home in Redmond. This increase only applies to the Redmond portion of your property tax bill, not your entire property tax bill.

The purpose of this levy is to support public safety needs in both Police and Fire through the addition of more firefighters and police personnel. This levy increase would go directly to support operations and programs, such as:

Nine firefighters to support fire and aid car operations at the Overlake Fire Station No. 12
Nine firefighters to support an aid car at the North Redmond Station No. 17

Seventeen police personnel to support police operations and programs, including a regular police presence in the public schools as part of a comprehensive school safety program.

If only this proposition passes, the City of Redmond will be allowed to levy up to $0.35 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to invest solely in critical public safety programs.
Hey! Read "Comments" below

FROM: BOB Chamberlin, Founder of the No. Redmond Neighborhood Email Group (access it here) MEMO TO: City Council FROM: Rosemarie Ives, Mayor DATE: April 18, 2006 SUBJECT: RESOLUTION: Expressing Support for City of Redmond Proposition No.1, the Ballot Title of Which Currently Reads as Follows: To Address Critical Needs by Preserving Current Levels and Avoiding Cutback of Basic City Services (Such as Fire, Police, Parks, Traffic Improvements), Shall the City of Redmond Increase Its Current Regular Property Tax Levy Rate to $1.88 per $1,000 of Assessed Valuation, Beginning in 2007?; and Urging Redmond Voters to Vote in Favor of the Ballot Proposition at the May 16, 2006 Election. You will recall that the last time they tried to raise our taxes they told us that if we didn’t give them more money there would not be enough funding to build and staff the additional fire/EMS facilities that we need (specifically for North Redmond).

Most of us had to wonder three things about that.
1) How is it that they had sufficient funds to build themselves a huge and very expensive new city hall,
2) where did the money come from to give city officials (most notably the Mayor) a very substantial salary increase and
3) If the number of homes in North Redmond is increasing by a factor of four, and if those homes are paying far more taxes than the previously existing homes were paying why doesn’t the city have sufficient funds to provide the basic services for those homes that are normally expected?

Our response was that we resoundingly voted down their tax increase since most of us have the attitude that they need to better manage the over-abundance of money that has already been provided.This time the Mayor is suggesting that if we don’t vote to let them raise our taxes more than the current law allows there will not be enough funds to maintain the existing level of basic services. (Note that they have the legal right to raise our taxes every year anyway and they do not need our permission to do it. They just want a lot more than that.) In my opinion, this is what local governments do when they want more money. They cut funding for what the voters want rather than the funding for what the local officials want.There are ways that costs could be reduced rather substantially but the people who manage the money prefer not to even think about those methods. Here is an example. In my opinion, the City of Redmond Planning Dept. causes more problems than it cures. If you think about it, Planners tend to Plan whether that planning is actually needed or not and many of us feel that it is not. Each member of the Planning Dept. should be required to write a justification for his/her own job. After reviewing these justifications, cut about 80% of those jobs. Personally, I plan to vote, “NO” on Proposition 1.I wish I could say something like, “throw the bums out”, but Rosemary will not be running for Mayor so she is leaving anyway. As I recall, many years ago when Rosemary first ran for Mayor it was on a “No growth or very slow growth” platform and on that basis I voted for her. We have seen what that meant. I don’t like any of the current choices very much but some are better than others and in my opinion, the best of these is Marchione. Holly Plackett is for lots of growth. Her election web site calls for bringing in a lot more businesses and a satellite campus of the UW. This would, of course come with all of the attendant traffic and additional need for infrastructure (and of course, government). Also, I can’t say that I’m very fond of some of the organizations that are endorsing her. Robinson is supported by many of the folks who are currently a big part of what I feel to be the problem so I don’t feel at all good about him either.There are people on this mailing list who previously expressed an interest in running for Mayor but I have yet to see their campaign signs. - Bob Chamberlin, 7/31