It didn’t take long for Hans Dunshee to settle into his new position on the Snohomish County Council before asking taxpayers for more money, a 0.2 percent sales tax increase. Even this progressive thinks that before squeezing already strained personal budgets of county residents, the county should first ask each department to find ways to decrease their costs by a solid 3 percent. The state does it when asked because it isn’t a request, it’s a directive. Sometimes it is as easy as implementing lean practices, reducing redundancies and not replacing equipment that still works. And then once those discovered savings are noted we see that there was already money available after all!

R. Todd Fredrickson

Monroe