My letter to Senator
Jacobsen....
============
Ref:
Senate Bill 5217 attached
Sen. Ken Jacobsen, Seattle
Sir
I
believe that this sort of legislation will have further adverse
economic
impacts on rural property owners. In Jefferson County, which
is already 90%
in public lands, environmental policies originating in
Seattle and Port
Townsend have plunged rural folks into an economic
depression. Average earned
income has fallen from par with the State
average, to only 50% of the State
average.
(How's that for Futurewise, Eh?)
This disaster is a direct
consequence of the GMA, which due to it's
one shape fits all definition of
what a UGI is to be, has cast Port
Townsend as the only UGI in Jefferson
County. Unfortunately this has
destroyed economic activity in rural Jefferson
because PT is located
FAR from the geographic center of East Jefferson Co. -
but the
Dem/Green PT machine selfishly uses the GMA to force what
growth
occurs into their town exclusively.
Now these same interests
use the funds from OUR property taxes, to
come into our South Jefferson Co
communities and buy "conservation
futures" property reducing our school tax
base EVEN FURTHER. Sir, do
you have any idea what it is like to see your
school and your town
barely surviving?? That is what is going on in our town
- Brinnon,
just like Packwood where the school has already closed due to
green
policy emanating from Seattle!
I think if you folks want to
drive out of the city and find that all
us rural folks live in idyllic
setting, then you urbanites should pay
the cost of this policy. What your are
in fact doing, however, is
creating ever more hardship for real people. I
don't know about you,
but when I was a kid they taught me to live by the
Golden Rule.
I don't think the Dem/Green Seattle political thrust puts
people
first, in fact what has been done to rural folks in the name of
the
"environment" is a Sin - by any
definition!
Sincerely...
www.brinnonprosperi
cc: interested parties, King 5
News,
www.Citizenreviewon
============
Senate
Bill 5217 (Allowing counties to increase funding for
properties acquired
through conservation futures.):
Introduced by Sen. Ken Jacobsen on
January 12, 2007, to allow
counties to increase property tax levies up to
.125 cents per $1,000
of assessed value for acquiring conservation futures.
The bill would
also increase the amount allowed for maintenance and
operations of
parks and recreational land from 15% to 25% of the taxes
levied.