North Whidbey Fire and Rescue wants to raise our taxes. The committee they appointed to convince us to vote for it says in the Island County Official Local Voters’ Pamphlet, “This lid lift is to bring the tax level back to where it was in 2004.”

That is a real whopper. The fire district’s property tax in 2004 was $1.14 million. If the district gets voter approval for a tax increase, the property tax in 2009 will be $2.15 million. That’s a $1 million increase from the 2004 tax level – not bringing the tax level back to what it was in 2004.

If the tax increase passes, it will result in a 55 percent increase over this year, a new base for taxation and the fire district will collect at least an additional $4 million over the next five years. Has the district made a case to justify such a huge increase? Can we afford it in these tough economic times? Only the voters can answer those questions.

Ron Poore

Oak Harbor