The Everett Herald published a quote from a very wise person, “Take care of the future, for someday you will live there.”

We are relatively new to the Snohomish area and are dismayed to see property taxes badly hurting homeowners, and seeing the high number of home foreclosures. Here in Snohomish, our property taxes have increased to over $4,000 a year.

We live in a substandard house on a substandard lot. This means we have to move. These thousands of tax dollars have to come from local business like the Buzz Inn Restaurant, McDaniel’s Hardware, Safeway, Fred Meyer, Home Depot and other local businesses.

Our future is “bleak,” and your children will face unacceptable financial obligations.

Example:

My house is worth about $70,000 (cost to build).

Banks (and their corruption) say it is worth $288,000, plus bank interest for 30 years. (288.8 units of property taxation.)

Now let’s say your adult children want to buy my home.

Their house payment at 1 percent would be $2,880 per month, plus $333 for property taxes, plus $50 for home insurance, plus $250 electric, plus water, plus garbage and water run-off fees.

Add in food, auto payments, auto insurance, gas, clothing and health care costs.

Now I ask you … how much money would one of your children have to earn to live in this starter home?

On an American standard scale from 1 to 10, this house is about a 3 to 4.

Is this their future?

I am now 82 years old and worked hard all my life. Now I have to move to someplace that I can afford.

A large percent of your children will never be able to buy this home or save enough money to retire.

This is their future?

Ernest F. Dahl

Snohomish

(Editor’s note: Mr. Dahl’s letter, which he had been working on for a while, has been published posthumously, at the request of his family, so he can have “one last say.” Mr. Dahl died on April 19.)