Find a fairer way to pay for Olympia parks

I’m concerned for the people who live and own property in Olympia who are on fixed incomes. Now with the value increasing on property, and the assessed value climbing again, we need more people to pay for the park system than just the property owners.

Fixed incomes and seniors who still live in their homes are being forced out by special levies. There are other ways to collect revenue for Olympia parks: The city already has a tax on your power and gas bill. Your Comcast cable bill. Your cell phone bill. A $20 fee is added to your license tabs. A city sales tax.

So why not raise revenue off all of the above and leave the tax off the property owners. Property owners need a break. The city could also have a user fee on some of the larger parks. Washington state has user fees on its parks.

Let’s be more fair with the way tax is collected for projects.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Find a fairer way to pay for Olympia parks."