Dear Voters:

Prop. 1 is about keeping Snoqualmie safe and taking care of the basics to help keep and attract more local jobs and businesses right here in Snoqualmie.  It’s about maintaining Snoqualmie’s quality of life and helping preserve what’s special about our community.

YES TO KEEP SNOQUALMIE SAFE.   Last year, police and fire responded to over 7,000 calls in an average of 4 to 6 minutes.   That’s a 40% call increase from just ten years ago.    Prop. 1 will preserve fast response times and help Snoqualmie maintain the high quality of public safety that residents have come to expect and deserve.

YES TO MAINTAIN “NO CALL TOO SMALL.”  Prop. 1 will help maintain Snoqualmie’s goal to respond in person to every police, fire and medical emergency call.   For nearly a decade, the Fire Department has not added any new fire fighters and the police department has only added one officer.

YES TO PRESERVE PARKS, STREETS, & NATURAL AREAS.  Prop. 1 will help protect and preserve our parks, trails and natural areas and repair our streets so they don’t cost much more to fix in the future.    Please vote YES on Prop 1.

Respectfully,

Jim Schaffer, Retired Snoqualmie Police Chief

VOTE NO.   Prop 1 Levy/ Tax increase is unnecessary. 

Snoqualmie has the 4^th highest property tax burden in King County, and Proposition 1 will make Snoqualmie the 2nd highest.  Even with a 1% cap, property tax collections have grown an average 10% per year from 2002 to 2011. Taxes are high enough.  We just have to spend more wisely.

 We support police and firemen.  Public safety is not at risk.  There’s been NO adverse impact to police/fire service or response times.  A shell game uses popular programs like public safety to request more funds when there are other reasonable places to prioritize.

Just like families, cities must live within their means.  Leaders must sometimes make tough choices.

Cut pet projects and waste.  

• A proposed low income housing pet project that we cannot afford would cost nearly $1million over 12 years by waiving the developer’s taxes and fees.
• City health and pension costs have exploded, growing 3 times faster than wages. Snoqualmie fringe benefits of $39,700 per employee are twice the national employer average of $19,600.

We urge a no vote.  City leaders can rise to the challenge and find reasonable savings without raising taxes.

“THE TRUTH IS you can’t outsource a firefighter. The public’s desire for top-notch cops, firefighters and parks collides with a slumping economy.  Growth can’t be relied on to meet needs.” (Valley Record)

FACT:  City already made aggressive spending cuts: no new firefighters (10 years); hiring freezes; no cost-of-living increases; cuts in health insurance, equipment for fire, parks, public works.

FACT:  Public Safety, 911 response times, and “No call too small” ARE at risk. 

Encompass Endorsed.

Statement submitted by: Jim Schaffer, Chelley Patterson and Dave Battey
KeepSnoqualmieSafe@gmail.com

Prop 1 is not about public safety.  It’s a choice between higher taxes and managing spending.

Public safety is not at risk.  Prop 1 does not add a single police officer.  Over 10 years, public safety responses are up 40% while property taxes have increased 250%

City leaders must prioritize spending and cut waste.

Higher taxes and wasteful spending make Snoqualmie less attractive to homebuyers and small businesses which hurts our home values and jobs 

Statement submitted by: Clayton Fong, Jim Renahan and Mark Hawkins
Snoqualmie.homeowners@aim.com