LETTERS
Identify bank that put business out
Even with all that’s been said about annexation, there is still more to consider. Some say incorporation of the PAA has been discounted because there are few commercial revenue sources to help pay for services. To that I ask what services do you want, and if you don’t get them, what can you do about it? Incorporating is not out of the question.
I refer to other cities that do not have a sustainable commercial tax base and may or may not impose high property taxes to make up for it. It all depends on the services they are willing to pay for.
The county likes to call them “contract” cities. Are the citizens of contract cities happy? I think so. Cities like Beaux Arts, Hunts Point, Yarrow Bay, and others have been incorporated for a long time, pay for what they want, and for the most part been satisfied with their services.
City property taxes also vary greatly. Kirkland owners pay 3 times as much city property taxes than they do in Hunts Point. Why? They are paying for the services they want including, non-essential services. They govern themselves.
When I worked for the City of Paradise, CA, the 22,000 people decided to incorporate even without a commercial revenue base. They became a contract city. They relied on property taxes to pay for services they wanted. It was a retirement community with an average citizen age in the low 70’s most of whom already had what they wanted and were self sustaining. They didn’t need or want non-essential services. The city lived within their means. They governed themselves. The PAA could do the same.
So I have this question. What services does the PAA want and how do they expect to get them? Cost is an unknown quantity because they don’t know what level of service is acceptable. What is evident is the citizens in the PAA haven’t even tried to find out but are letting the county do their bidding for them. Like many other cities that incorporated because they didn’t like what the county was doing for them after the Growth Management Act passed, the PAA could do the same.
Bob Style, Kirkland
