So The Herald, in its April 9 editorial, thinks the 1 percent cap on property taxes should be lifted in order to bail out county governments. Gee, if you want to do something good why not just stop the everlasting property reassessment process? That would save heaps and tons of county money and be beneficial to long-term Washingtonians.
Sure, that would be like California’s terrifying Proposition 13 that seems to scare the begeebers out of everyone. But Californians aren’t complaining.
What’s more their Prop. 13 has been in place since 1978 and passed all sorts of legal and hypochondriac challenges. That’s so many years I have to take my socks off to count them all.
If California were to fall off into the ocean as all the naysayers predicted, it will be from the sheer weight of people still trying to move in.
What’s the matter with giving native and long-term Washingtonians a seniority break on their property taxes? They haven’t caused the cost of government to go up.
If deep pockets come in out of state paying outrageously inordinate prices for homes, why should taxes on all the neighbors go up?
If assessed values were simply the prices paid and left there until the property is resold or major improvements done, who could argue about the taxed value?
Why even tax improvements that benefit the whole neighborhood? Do we need regressive and punishing taxes?
Are Californians smarter than us? Think about it.
Al Williams
Oak Harbor
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