Reach out to fixed incomes

I am writing this letter on behalf of all the people who voted “no” on the Marysville schools issue, but are trying to live on fixed incomes.

If you go by the Marysville YMCA any weekday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., the place is packed, which tells me there are a lot of retired folks like myself in the Marysville area.

I regret that I could not support education funding, as it is a worthy cause that needs to be addressed for future generations. However, with the rising cost of property taxes, insurances, utilities, food, and even my Medicare payments unexpectedly rose by 27 percent this year; the only thing that didn’t rise is my fixed income and I get negligible cost of living raises.

So I am torn: I have to plan for the years ahead. Can I make it financially? This uncertainty caused me to vote “no” while in my heart I wish I could have voted for updating our education system.

There must be some other way. For young folks, be warned that Medicare is mandatory and not free; some of us are making $400-a-quarter payments and have yet to use their services.

Robert Rivera

Marysville

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