Letters to the editor for Jan. 14

• Published January 14, 2009

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Pay for schools out of general fund

I believe the Legislature should do something about property taxes. Property owners have been overtaxed for years in Washington state. The taxing method utilized in this state is unreasonable. The 1-percent cap passed by the Legislature is nothing more than a Band-Aid. The real money maker is in the assessed valuation of each property. The assessed valuation of a property is tampered with every year. This valuation, according to the Assessor's Office, is determined by the "true market value" of the property.

There are a lot of problems with this theory. The real estate market is manipulative. New homes drive up the value of old homes. County appraisers do not review each home every year. They look at sales of comparable homes in a general area and apply that value to your home. "Comparable" is nothing more than an assumption. A lending institution will do a complete check of a home, inside and outside, and then make a conclusion on the value of that home.

In addition, the state Legislature developed a levy system for school funding and attached it to property taxes. School levies devour nearly 65 percent of each property tax dollar. The remaining public services (fire, police, etc.) get the remaining 35 percent.

Public services are needed, and we need tax money to support these services. However, I believe the school districts should be funded directly from the state general fund, which would apply funding more fairly to everyone.

Ken Larson, Olympia

Try to be patient in judging Obama

Once again, religion has caused differing opinions leading to protests and division. I refer to President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration in January.

Particular objection has come from the GLBT community, feeling that this choice undercuts Obama's said support of working toward equal rights. On the other hand, conservative Christians object because they feel Obama is too progressive with support he has expressed for the GLBT community and right to life issues. They would rather that Rick Warren not participate with someone they deem too liberal.

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