I’m sorry. I’ll have to vote against the school bonds. Lucky for them their bond vote is Feb. 13, before voters know what other tax increases will hit them. And I’m weary of “hide the ball” tax pitches.

My real estate taxes are predicted to go up in my April bill to pay for the Legislature’s full school funding — I think $0.82 per $1,000 valuation. The school district does not show how much this will be and I can’t find it on the King County site yet. How will the money from this increase will be used or affect their “need” for more funds?

My real estate taxes will also go up for the “hidden” deceptive ST3 tax for trains that won’t reach my area for at least 10 years.

My real estate taxes will increase by whatever “value” increases result from house prices rising.

And my car tabs went up $268.50 on two cars for the hidden deceptive ST3 tax as well. Tax is based on more than I paid for the cars and more than they are worth. Not at all funny.

Then we have what I consider a “tax” from the theft of my time idling on I-405 because of the deceptive tolling lanes. I’m not allowed to drive in two lanes that I helped pay for. Not at all funny either.

What is a reasonable maximum tax load on citizens at any one time? Why not prioritize and cut something from the budget? Or take turns using a specific percentage on property taxes?

And that’s not to say I don’t see other problems with the Lake Washington School District. How many employees are in administrative jobs, grinding out statistics? How many are direct support of the classroom? They don’t seem even slightly open to a school being older than 20 years. The goal should be making sure students understand the basics of each course. They can’t use their computers to identify classes or teachers that are unusually hard for students. They cannot seem to rate courses as difficult or harder so students could balance out their workload easier. They cannot identify Advanced Placement classes that will actually count towards a student’s prospective major and thus actually save them tuition dollars.

And the school district cannot seem to coordinate with the cities, cooperate on building or recreational use and plan jointly. See the kerfuffle over the Juanita Pool and Kirkland Aquacenter. After both bonds were defeated, now the Juanita Pool miraculously survives.

So, I’ll wait till enough facts come out to see that I’m paying taxes necessarily, that the district is trying to save money and is operating efficiently.

Roger Stone,

Kirkland