Editor,

With regard to the Whidbey News-Times article on Aug. 5 addressing operations and maintenance funding problems that the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District is experiencing with the John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool: The district is an autonomous junior taxing district and relies on general property tax and pool user fees as the only money received for pool operations and maintenance.

Neither the state, Island County nor the City of Oak Harbor or Coupeville provides any additional funding.

The district does not work for Island County or the City of Oak Harbor. It works for the state of Washington.

A six-year operations and maintenance levy is the method used to collect part of the district’s working capital.

Island County establishes the property tax and collects and disburses money to the district based on a voter approved levy rate, presently at 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

It is my belief that the district should receive this voter-approved levy amount each and every year of the six-year levy.

But there is a problem with the way that Island County views the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District since Island County considers the district to be part of its overall tax base “pie chart,” including the schools, hospital, roads, etc.

In addition, Island County only gives the district the voter-approved rate for the first year of the six-year levy.

In years two through six, Island County reduces the money it gives to the district by one to two cents per year so that instead of receiving 17 cents per $1,000 for years one through six, in the sixth year the money received could amount to only 12 cents per $1,000 or less.

This is the major reason why the district is short of reserves and capital improvement funds.

If the district had received the full amount of voter approved levy funding since 1982, then it would have adequate reserves for ongoing preventative maintenance and capital expansion.

It is recommended that the district, Island County and the state resolve this problem so that the district receives the full amount of voter-approved levy funding each and every year.

As a former district commissioner, 2004-07, I attempted to get this issue resolved.

It is time to reopen this issue and get the problem fixed.

Tom Johnson

Oak Harbor