Shoreline Proposition 1, "Basic Public Safety, Parks and Recreation, and Community Services" Maintenance and Operations Levy.
By Diane Hettrick
As of Friday, November 12, at 4:05 pm, Shoreline Proposition 1 is passing with a generous margin. The measure required a 50% vote. It has 56.2%, Yes votes are 11,835 and No are 9,225.
Voter turnout was fairly high in this election, as well, with 68.7% of registered voters casting ballots.
The measure allows the City to raise the Tim-Eyman inspired 1% cap on property taxes for six years, to maintain the current level of services.
The City staff, in numerous presentations to the public, said they had been making economies, streamlining, cutting expenses, and using rainy day funds, but had reached a point where income had to be increased or cuts would be necessary which would be unwelcome to the citizens who routinely expressed their pleasure in living in a "Most Livable City."
Support Shoreline, the committee of citizens advocating for the Proposition, chaired by Carolyn Hope, reminded people of what they liked about living in Shoreline and that the Proposition was needed to keep the Shoreline they knew.
No On Prop 1, the committee advocating against the Proposition, said that times are really bad and this is the wrong time to raise taxes. They worried about people losing their homes because of the increased taxes. Major funding for the No campaign came from local businesses whose owners do not live in Shoreline, but who were presumably concerned about increased taxes on their business property.
Non-profit, enrichment organizations were very concerned about the possibility that the Proposition would fail. Community agencies such as the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council, the Shoreline Historical Museum, the Center for Human Services, and the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Senior Center, do not depend fully on the City's support, but they do get what is for them a sizable amount of money from the City. Losing it would be a blow to their operations, which are already under stress because of the economy. In addition, Lake Forest Park voters turned down their Proposition 1, which left the community institutions which get support from both cities wondering about their futures.
They still have to absorb the cuts in the Lake Forest Park budget, but Bob Lohmeyer, Director of the Senior Center, voiced what many of the non-profits were feeling.
“With the successful passage of Shoreline Proposition 1 the citizens of Shoreline entrusted city government to insure that the services that make Shoreline such a great place to live; Public Safety, Parks and Recreation, and Community Services; are maintained and strengthened. The Senior Center is proud to be part of a community that values services that enhance the life of the community and its residents.”
Citizens got the point. In response to debatable complaints that Shoreline had high taxes, local environmentalist Larry Owens, in a comment on the SAN Facebook page, said,
"We, the citizens of Shoreline VOTED for our schools, voted for our parks, voted for the services we want in order to make/keep Shoreline a great place to live, to work, and to raise a family. The NO folks blast that we have higher taxes. DUH, we want better schools, better parks, and better programs than that large city next door!"
The Mayor and City Council, most of whom actively advocated for the Proposition, were understandably pleased with the outcome of the election.
Mayor Keith McGlashan stated, “On behalf of the City Council, we are grateful for the support and trust of the Shoreline community. The community’s trust obligates us to continue to be good stewards of their tax dollars.”
The Shoreline Council and staff have been clear, however, that Proposition 1 is not the solution to everything and the City will continue to be diligent about containing costs, increasing efficiencies, and looking for ways to increase revenue through robust businesses, both those already located in Shoreline, and new businesses.
Shoreline City Manager Robert Olander says, “Speaking for City staff, we appreciate the community’s approval of Proposition 1. The community’s support reinforces our commitment to increasing efficiencies and providing exceptional customer service.”
The City Council is scheduled to adopt the 2011 budget on November 22 at its regular meeting. All meetings are located at City Hall and start at 7:00 pm. Budget information can be found on the City's website.
I would not call a 6 percent win decisive by any means. It is a statement that nearly half of the citizens are not happy with how things are going.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many realize that City payroll is currently projected to increase by 25 percent over the next six years. How much of these new tax funds will actually remain to support the Senior Center, the police, the parks, etc after we enrich staff with such unheard of increases? We are in a time of deflation - cost of living wages should be in negative territory, but they are not. Why not?
Council needs to get a handle on this runaway salary situation and put the new monies toward what they promised. I, for one, do not trust what is being done and will need to see significant changes before I have any confidence in the Mayor as our Chief Executive Officer responsible for this situation.
NOTE TO ANONYMOUS-
ReplyDeleteThe mayor is NOT that chief executive officer of the City of Shoreline, He is merely the presiding officer of the city Council. The hired city manager is the chief executive officer.
I would hardly call a 56% yes vote on any subject an overwhelming victory. Over 43% of the voters voted "no" on Proposition 1. A substantial portion of that 43% is completely distrustful of the employees & council of the City of Shoreline. I believe that distrust is well-earned. This city is not business-friendly and will not find the tax base they desire if they keep treating businesses the way they do. We have a brand-spanking new City Hall building with it's extra fancy sidewalks and a parking garage that tow trucks can't get into (oops!!). The surrounding businesses languish due to the lack of accessibility to their establishments. Does anyone on the city staff care about these businesses? No, they are too busy protecting their overinflated salaries by threatening the voters that unless we voted for Proposition 1, all the good things in Shoreline would go away.
ReplyDeleteWe love to build pretty things out here in Shoreline. The prettier, and more expensive, the better. After all, we have to show our neighbors that we really are better than them. For example, we have the beautiful, costly, very seldom used overpasses at Aurora & 155th. People would rather cross at street level than climb a bunch of stairs to cross - there is rarely anyone on the overpasses - but they sure are pretty. But the Federal government gave us money for the Aurora Project, right? Where do you think the Federal government gets their money? (could it be from us?) At my house when money is tight, we buy plain, rather than "extra fancy". "Extra fancy" is the only thing the city of Shoreline knows. Check out the sidewalks at City Hall. Trust is earned and our city officials have not earned my trust.
Mr Smith,
ReplyDeletePoint taken. If the Mayor is not to be called the CEO but the presiding officer over the Council then I will gladly hold the council responsible for hiring a city manager and supporting direction that has put us in this situation. Either way, there needs to big change in the way the City Manager and his boss the City Council allocate taxpayer funds. Let's see them tie the tax dollars to the services and then see what happens.
The City Council is supposed to hire a new City manager by the end of February. I'll have to check on the progress of the search
ReplyDeleteThe two bridges at 155th are not part of the Aurora Corridor project. They were part of the Interurban Trail, which was separately funded. The issue was how to complete the Trail on its original path, which crossed Aurora on a trestle. The solution was the two bridges. They did, of course, coordinate the construction with the Aurora construction so everything could be done at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of community input at the time - people wanted to be sure that there was street access to the bridges.
I see bicyclists on the bridges and know quite a few people who commute to work on the Trail and appreciate the safety of the bridges.
They are pretty because the planners wanted them to be a "signature" for Shoreline and because there was money in the 1% for Art fund.
What is your point about the sidewalks at City Hall? Any new construction has to adhere to current code, which includes sidewalks. I haven't noticed anything special about the ones at City Hall.
As a senior on fixed income, wondering how we are going to keep our houses as well as pay for all the other taxes we can not afford another increase in taxes for parks. Every time our house value goes up our taxes go up and yet the city and school districts are asking for even more money. Enough is enough. The parks are full of blue tarps and tents, I hardly ever see anyone using the parks. We have enough and better budget control is the answer. Not increasing taxes. Stop that.
ReplyDelete