A lump of coal—that’s what the members of the Bonney Lake City Council deserve in their stocking this Christmas.

At last Tuesday’s council meeting the Council passed Resolution 2258 with a 5-2 vote; the resolution requires the city to conduct a special election in April 2013. The only measure on the ballot will be the creation of a special taxing district called a Metro Park District (MPD). This taxing district, if approved by a simple majority of the voters, will implement up to a $0.75 cent tax for each $1,000 of your property’s assessed value.

I do not oppose the creation of more parks nor improvements to our existing venues; however, there are many dangers involved with creating a special taxing district. I will not argue the ideological pitfalls in this letter; instead, I would like to highlight several ironies that surrounded the Council’s vote:

1. The special election will cost Bonney Lake citizens roughly $25,000. This money could be better spent to partially fund a greatly needed K-9 unit for Bonney Lake Police. Isn’t ensuring the safety of Bonney Lake’s citizens the Council’s first responsibility?

2. The Council, by endorsing the special election, endorses raising taxes on a night when leaders of the Food Bank testified that the number of needy families in our community is increasing, not decreasing. Will an increase in property tax help to feed citizens in Bonney Lake?

3. Finally, our community overwhelmingly approved I-1185 last November. Do you remember I-1185? The initiative reaffirmed the requirement that a tax increase can only be enacted with a two-thirds majority vote of either the legislature or the people.  The MPD measure if approved, however, will impose a new tax on the citizens of Bonney Lake with only a simple majority. Did the Council members see the results of the November election?

This special election, to create a special taxing district labeled as an MPD, is a loophole being used by municipalities to raise taxes with only 50 percent of voter approval. The Council’s authorization for the special election defies what the people of Bonney Lake mandated last November—two-thirds majority approval is required to raise taxes.  This political tactic used by the Council must be unveiled—it’s a tax increase that will be enacted with only a majority of the voter’s approval. For their decision, the Council gets a very large lump of coal.

Shawnta Mulligan,

Bonney Lake