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Opinion
The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
News / Opinion / Letters to the Editor

Letter: Study wording of levy before voting

By Jon McCloy, Salmon Creek
Published: June 13, 2016, 6:00am

Clark County Fire District 6 is asking voters to pass Proposition No. 2 tax levy. Voters should remember how we were misled in last November election’s Proposition No. 1 that increased the district’s levy 18 percent.

The misleading terms in that ballot text, such as “restore” and “maintain funding,” made Proposition 1 sound like a replacement levy, with the word “increase” absent in the text, yet a tax increase was indeed its effect. Proposition 1 presumably made up for decreased property values after the 2008-era recession, and the fire district floated it just in time, knowing valuations were on their way back up. The newfound money is earmarked for a new Salmon Creek fire station, which voters said “no” to in an earlier measure. Voters were misled and our prior decision was blatantly disregarded.

In an irony of timing, I simultaneously received a porch flier for Proposition 2 and in the mail my new county property assessment. My property value increased $30,000, and now is back to the pre-recession valuation. Meanwhile, the fire district is sourcing expensive land to build a multi-million-dollar fire station.

Voters should take pause before a rubber-stamped “yes” vote on Proposition 2. Instead, consider sending a message to the fire district that its staff might be maintained with funds from an unnecessary new station and land, which voters never intended to approve in the first place.

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