Residents respond to tax increase

The Washington City Council approved a budget Wednesday which included an increase in property taxes of $1 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That would bring the city?s tax rate to $15.98 per $1,000. A few Washington residents attended the council?s meeting and spoke against the proposed tax increase. They encouraged the council to solve its budget woes some other way.

Resident Michael McFarland said he was displeased to see the proposed tax increase after the city steeply increased the sewer rates last year.

?The people I?ve been speaking to can?t sustain this much longer,? he said.

McFarland claimed that Washington County has among the highest median property taxes in the country.

?If we increase our property tax rate again ? hey, why don?t we go for No. 1?? he asked. ?I don?t mean to be facetious, but it?s getting to the point where I can?t sustain it anymore. The people I?ve spoken to can?t sustain it anymore.?

City Administrator Brent Hinson had proposed at an earlier budget meeting that the city should increase its water rates 3.5 percent every year after this year. McFarland said that if the state government reduces taxes on business, homeowners like himself will have to pick up the slack at the same time they?re paying more for water and sewer.

?Perhaps we need to look at alternatives to increase property taxes,? he said. ?If I?m in debt, I don?t go to my boss and ask him for more money. I cut my spending. I might have to do without a few things, but if that?s what it takes, that?s what we?ll have to do.?

Resident Gerald Franzen asked the council how it got into such debt to begin with.

?When Mr. Plyman (Dave Plyman, former city administrator) left, was there stuff that didn?t get paid?? he asked.

Councilor Bob Shellmyer responded, ?Only the council can say yes or no. Let?s not talk about Mr. Plyman, regardless of what we thought of him or what you thought of him. What you?re talking about is the end result of what the council has done. The guys and gals on the council may hate me for saying that, but I believe the council created the problem.?

Shellmyer added that he also thought the previous councils were not given the right information.

Franzen said he didn?t like the idea of creating a wellness park while the city is in debt. He said the city owns land on the north side of town that it could sell to get out of debt. The city owns 90 acres of land just off 18

^th

Street which it purchased from the Washington School District in 2010.

?Why are we talking about a wellness park when we?ve got bigger issues?? he asked. ?Even if you do it, what about the maintenance and the insurance? I know Mike Roth (former councilor) talked about selling the land, but now all of a sudden we can?t do it. Would they have bought the land at that point had they known we were going to be in the hole this much??