Letters for July 16, 2023

Property taxes shake families down

Tom Konis and the folks at the Spokane County Assessor are robbing families blind. The median household income for Spokane, according to the Census Bureau, is $64,079. Taking away federal taxes (15%) and payroll taxes (7.65%), the average household family is left with $49,464.

According to Zillow, the average price of a home in Spokane County is $390,313. The property tax rate varies per district but is approximately 1.15% of the home’s value.

Tom and gang have had the bright idea to assess collections on 100% of your home’s value. So for the average home, you would be looking at an average tax bill of $4,488. In terms of after tax pay for the average family, the city is effectively walking away with 9% of a family’s paycheck.

The greatest part – homes are not equally assessed. If you’ve recently purchased a home in the last year or so, here’s a fun exercise. Check out your neighbor’s property tax bill using the county’s parcel search at: cp.spokanecounty.org/scout/SCOUTDashboard. If you dispute your property’s assessed value, you cannot rely on a neighbor’s assessed value if it hasn’t been sold recently. Would seem like a fairly logical comparison if you’d ask me.

Even if you’re not a homeowner in Spokane, the increase tax is being passed onto tenants in terms of rent increases and higher cost of living for all.

Tom – why the need to take away from hardworking families?

Robert Lyon

Newman Lake

An anecdote about WA Cares benefits

Mark Mullet and others complaining about our new long-term care benefit for workers in Washington must be wealthy enough to not be concerned about affording care – a crisis that is affecting so many. I urge these naysayers to talk to folks who have experienced a life changing event that leaves their families strained physically, emotionally and financially.

A standard medical procedure left me permanently paralyzed when I was only 30, and our son was two years old. We found out the hard way that even good health insurance won’t cover getting help with dressing, bathing, managing meals and getting around once you get out of the hospital.

Knowing we are building up our WA Cares benefits while we are both working with good union job benefits means my husband won’t have to quit his job if I need more care someday. It means we can hire a home care aide if Sam ends up needing help someday as a result of a serious injury, illness or disease.

We’ve seen how our grandparents had to drain their hard-earned savings and sell all their assets to qualify for Medicaid, and we are grateful WA Cares is going to make getting care and staying in our own home possible.

Dani Rice

Asotin

Spokane Valley’s costly debacle

The Spokane Valley City Hall construction debacle has resulted in significant cost overruns and ongoing expenses for taxpayers. The original cost was $14 million with additional repair expenses estimated at a minimum of $4.4 million.

One of the key lessons learned from this situation is that selecting the lowest bidder for a construction project is not always the most cost-saving option. While it may seem attractive to choose the contractor with the lowest initial bid, it’s crucial to consider other factors such as the contractor’s reputation, experience and ability to deliver quality work within the agreed-upon budget and timeline.

Responsible contractors are those who have a track record of successfully completing projects on time and within budget. They prioritize transparency, accountability and adherence to regulations and safety standards. These contractors are more likely to provide accurate cost estimates and avoid unforeseen expenses that can lead to cost overruns.

Another important aspect of successful construction projects is having a skilled and trained workforce. Hiring qualified professionals who possess the necessary expertise and experience in their respective trades is essential for ensuring the quality and efficiency of the construction process. Skilled workers are more likely to complete tasks correctly the first time, minimizing the need for rework and additional expenses.

Overall, the Spokane Valley City Hall sinking serves as a reminder of the importance of careful contractor selection, a skilled and trained workforce, and effective project management to avoid cost overruns, litigation, and unnecessary financial burdens on taxpayers.

Scott Holstrom

Spokane

WA Cares benefits are great for workers

In response to Issaquah region State Sen. Mark Mullet’s rant about WA Cares, I suggest Mullet and others framing our new worker benefit as a needless tax talk to family members, friends and neighbors who have experienced the need for long term care or become a caregiver for a loved one.

The ability to tap into our WA Cares benefit to help pay for a home care aide, home modifications or medical equipment when we need help with daily living tasks because of a surgery, serious injury, debilitating illness, disease or limitations that come with aging is going to be a lifeline.

The vast majority of us do not have the resources to pay out of pocket or to put aside sufficient savings to pay for care. What we will contribute to build our WA Cares benefits is a penny on the dollar (the average income worker will contribute a few thousand dollars to vest in the program and be eligible as soon as 2026 for the $36,500 benefit which grows with inflation) – a return on investment impossible to match with personal savings or investments.

What leads to a financial crisis for workers is not the small percent of our pay that we’re contributing to our WA Cares benefit, but the fact that long term care is not covered by health insurance or Medicare. Families are forced to drain our savings and assets to less than $2,000 to become eligible for Medicaid, which is funded by taxpayers.

Julie Sparkman

Spokane

Development needs time, thought

I am contacting The Spokesman-Review today to enact a moratorium on major development in the Latah Valley. Due to an acknowledged lack of planning and monitoring by the city the last 20-plus years, any level of major development cannot be adequately, responsibly or safely absorbed by this part of the city until comprehensive planning is complete. Increasing traffic impact fees are important but still insufficient. Latah Valley requires dedicated city funding and action now for needed infrastructure.

There is a pathway to balance the integrity of the Latah Valley, protect the agricultural and wildlife corridors, manage traffic movements, and allow for smart development adequately, safely and mindfully. That can only happen by pausing more major development in an area that lacks community resources and appropriate infrastructure and is in jeopardy of losing key communitywide attributes such as the inventory of viable agricultural land and critical wildlife habitat.

The pressure to grow Spokane should never come at the expense of preserving what makes Spokane a wonderful place to live. Please do the right thing – enact a moratorium on major development in the Latah Valley until comprehensive planning can be undertaken and funding sources identified for needed infrastructure.

I watched Los Angeles choke itself to death as I grew up there and stayed for 40 years. I watched Phoenix choke itself to death as I lived there for 25 years. I came to Spokane for all the great things it has to offer. I do not want to see what is so special about Spokane have the same fate.

Peter McEvoy

Spokane

Better solutions than gassing geese

Recently, 170 geese were removed from Sandpoint beach and gassed. Will we now kill all geese in the Pacific Northwest because of “possible” disease and pooping on the beach? This method was justified as being humane by American Veterinarian Medical Association. Please research articles from the Humane Society of the United States that goes into great detail about how it is actually done, the extreme terror both the adult geese and goslings go through, and how inhumane it actually is.

True, the city beach is not a wildlife sanctuary, but to say all other options were tried and failed, I believe, is less than honest. I live on a golf course south of Sandpoint that also had a problem with many geese on the course. To the credit of our leadership, a trained dog was purchased for our head groundskeeper. In less than one year, the problem was solved and the geese have moved on. In a town like Sandpoint, was it impossible to find someone responsible to use a dog trained for this type of problem?

I hope many of you will get the word out to all they know who visit Sandpoint, and also determine what businesses stood behind these actions. My hope is that Sandpoint can remain a place where we find a way to live with nature and respect how we deal with problems in the future and not just cater to the type of tourists who would support gassing the geese.

Colleen Thomson

Rathdrum