In response to Gail Rauch’s Sept. 24 letter: (“John Koster: Statements need some clarification”) – she needs to be careful not to distort and mislead the public she serves as Snohomish County Assessor.
First of all, for her to use her office to write against a particular opponent in any given election is a total breach of faith of the office – especially when she can’t get her own information right. If she’s writing to set the record straight, she should tell the whole truth.
Naturally, much of the overall property tax increases over the past several years is due to increased property values from increased demand, but much of it is also due to regulatory restraints and increased bureaucratic permits and fees. Truth be known, the public may be interested to know that it is partially due to Ms. Rauch’s failure to go back and do the mapping for critical areas and re-assess values for those who can no longer use their land because of wetland or other government “takings.”
I stand by my statement that mortgage payments go up proportionately with property tax increases. Frankly, I’m amazed she would try to argue with that. In the first place, most mortgage payments today include pro-rated property tax payments. Second of all, because of those items I mentioned in the above paragraph, property value is going up much faster than it would if it were simply based on demand.
In regards to whether it is two-thirds or one-quarter of folks who will get their statements next year, that is a small point – their property tax assessments will still have gone up somewhere around 33 percent in the past three years.
Finally, as to my voting record: while serving three terms in the state House, I co-sponsored bills to reduce and even eliminate the state’s portion of the property tax burden on all taxpayers. But it was Gail Rauch’s party that attempted to block it at every turn. I need to add that the facts are clear. I’m one of the few, if not the only state representative that I know of, who voted no on every budget that came out with new taxes or excessive spending increases on the part of government. Tax increases should be the last resort, only when we can honestly, with a straight face, assure the citizens that government is running “lean and mean” at utmost efficiency, and doing only those things that it has authority to do. So, Ms. Rauch, I do walk my talk. You hide behind yours.
Arlington
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