In 2010 City of Shoreline residents voted “yes” to maintain City services by passing a six year “levy lid lift”. The levy lid lift allows the City to increase property taxes over the 1% limit authorized by state law. It is again time for voters to choose to continue their support of a levy lid lift to sustain current services or accept the alternative which is the 1% limit.

Because of expected ongoing increases to the cost of services, the City’s budget will grow by more than 1% a year to just maintain existing services. Voting “yes” on Prop 1 allows the City to meet the requirement of a balanced budget and to preserve those services. Voting “no” would require the City to cut services to maintain a balanced budget within the 1% limit. Prop 1 would cost the owner of a median priced home an additional $7 per month on average over six years.

If you value the services you and your neighbors receive from the City (police and emergency services, parks and trails, the Shoreline Pool, community services, the Senior Center and youth programs, to name a few,) please vote yes on Prop 1.

Bottom line: This is a 15% local property tax increase that is unnecessary, uncalled for, and outrageous. On top of probable county and state tax increases and Sound Transit’s ST3, it’s just too much.

City staff insists that they need this major tax increase just to pay the city’s bills, but their numbers are phony, concocted by an outside group that invents numbers. If the County Assessor hadn’t told the city (just in time) that one of those key outside numbers was wrong, this proposed tax increase would have been 50% larger!

The city is also pushing to increase the car tab fee and create a new Business & Occupancy tax. Apparently, their thirst for new and higher taxes knows no limits and shows no concern for the tax burdens citizens already carry. Meanwhile, even the most pessimistic projections say that the city won’t need any new taxes for at least two years.

Constantly spiraling taxes are not the answer. We deserve better in Shoreline. It’s time to take a stand and send a message to our city government that they need to find a better way. Vote No on Proposition 1.

Learn more at www.danjacoby.com/NoLevyLidLift.

The $7 per month increase in city property tax corresponds to a 1.5% increase in total property tax.

A citizen committee reviewed the levy lid lift process. Eleven out of 13 members voted to put Prop 1 on the ballot.

For the City to be fiscally responsible, it must continue to research other funding options. Without Prop 1, services must be cut over the next six years. Prop 1 is vital for our City.

Submitted by: Megan Kogut, Judy Parsons, Kevin Osborn, forshoreline@gmail.com

To reiterate: This is a 15% tax increase, with more taxes planned. We can vote no, and still have enough money for at least two years. We have time to fix the budget, and eventually put a smaller, reasonable property tax increase on the ballot.

We don’t need to cut spending. We can safely vote no, and send the message that spiraling taxes are not the answer.

Submitted by: Dan Jacoby, dan@danjacoby.com

Complete text of measure

Simple majority (RCW 84.55.050)

For questions about this measure, contact: Sara Lane, Administrative Services Director, 206-801-2301, slane@shorelinewa.gov