Regarding the article, “Snohomish budget calls for higher taxes, pay”: It’s good news to read Snohomish plans to decommission its redundant Pilchuck River water supply system that currently provides only half of the city’s water. The city spent $3.4 million providing the Pilchuck River water recently when it could have purchased the same amount of water from Everett for only $476,000.
However, I take issue with the article’s statement “a compensation study earlier this year, which compared Snohomish workers’ pay to their counterparts in similar-sized cities, revealed that many of them are underpaid.”
Snohomish has a population of only 9,200. The comparable compensation study included much larger and wealthier cities such as Monroe, Lake Stevens, Lake Forest Park and Mountlake Terrace. For example, Monroe has twice and Lake Stevens three times the population of Snohomish.
Another issue worthy of coverage is that Snohomish City Manager Larry Bauman has recently announced a plan to put a permanent parks property tax increase on the August 2015 primary ballot that would cost a typical city homeowner several hundred dollars a year forever.
On another matter, it appears public opinion has apparently slowed down Mr. Bauman’s scheme this past summer to tear down the perfectly good, sturdy 1968 annex to the Carnegie Building and replace it with a new $2.5 million council chamber one-third the size of the annex.
Morgan Davis
Snohomish
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