Comments on: City-Wide Conservation Areas Worth The Price

By: Easterner

Easterner — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:52:11 +0000

Glen I realize that, for the ambulance ride. That does not fall within my personal viewpoint.

I think county taxes should pay for ambulance rides. Calling 911 should not cost extra.
I also think a fire truck should not respond to a MEDICAL emergency. Save money there and use it on funding a county supported ambulance service. Pay a little each year and then when we all have the need it’s paid for.
But now we’re just getting off topic. 🙂

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 16:15:50 +0000

would it be unreasonable of Valley Ride to add a stop in front of the apartments if they get built?

By: Glen

Glen — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 16:12:20 +0000

Easterner;

I agree with about 90% of your post, but then at the end you offer a bill for an ambulance ride as an extreme example of the taxing system in SimCity, implying that billing for emergency services is a crazy idea. But that is the system already in place in Ada County and much of Idaho. You ride in an ambulance, you get a bill.

By: Easterner

Easterner — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 19:02:56 +0000

Erico: So pay based on square footage? Seem a LOT like property tax.

Roads are primarily funded by fuels tax (pretty close to a mileage tax) and in some ways better.

Police based on location? You mean like the property location, right? Like a property tax? A nicer neighborhood = higher values= more important to keep crime away = higher cost.

And then you want to make “certain adjustments for affordability” but you said in the same post “No exemptions”.

And a sales tax – the most regressive of any tax- will fill in the gap?

Disband the assessor’s office? Who is going to count the square footage and # of floors of the businesses, and follow up with a bill? Oh wait, I suppose it’s all 100% voluntary.

Billing for cost of emergency services? I bet next time you get a bill for an ambulance ride, you will reconsider your basic taxing system in your SimCity.

good luck!

By: erico49

erico49 — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 22:43:38 +0000

Easterner. Many City and County services are already fee-based (water, sewer, solid waste, wastewater). The major ones that aren’t are roads, police, fire, and education. I think we could work a system of fee based on cost of service for fire and police. For example, houses of a particular size and fire insurance rating pay a flat fee. Business pay a fee based on square footage and number of stories. No exemptions. Roads should be funded by mileage tax, not property. Police fees would be based on location.. so downtown businesses would pay more because downtown uses so many police resources. Schools would be a flat rate of some sort. You would have to make certain adjustments for affordabilty once the initial studies are done, and perhaps supplement with a local-option sales tax, but the result would be more fair and certainly less complicated. And we could disband the assessor’s office.

By: Easterner

Easterner — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 20:07:22 +0000

Erico49, what other method would you suggest for city/local taxation?

Reminder– it’s 40 – 60% of a county/city budget.

By: rabula

rabula — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 19:27:30 +0000

4523A: Let’s quibble—Google Maps says 0.3 mile, a 6–7 minute walk. In most cities that’s an acceptable walk to a transit stop.

As that area and the bus system develop, Federal Way should have a bus route out to Micron. But that’s a whole other story.

At any rate, it doesn’t look like great wildlife habitat to me.

By: erico49

erico49 — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 13:16:23 +0000

It’s interesting that it always boils down to the inequity of the property tax. Too many exemptions. And yet we continue to stick with it as a primary means of collecting money.

By: 4523A

4523A — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 05:36:57 +0000

Nice try Rabula.

Close but off by about 0.15 miles. Nez Perce (extended) would be about a 1/4 mile south of Overland. 2105 FW is way south of Nez Perce.

The Federal Way address, the one that would be a nice nature type area due to it’s proximity to the RR tracks which the local wildlife use, is about 0.4 miles from the bus stop on Overland. Add to that the “walk out” distance and you’re probably close to 1/2 mile – out on the very fringe of a transit service (walking) area.

But the Federal Way address sure would be transit friendly with 300 people on about 0.8 acres. That works out to about 37 people per acre or about 24,000 folks per square mile. Heck, that’s even more than trolley friendly. Those numbers are trolley heaven.

I’d rather see 2105 property as a conservation area – even if it means being off the tax rolls.

Hopefully, the Vista Neighborhood Association will either be able to stop the 2105 FW project or get substantial changes made to it.

By: rabula

rabula — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 02:30:36 +0000

4523A: 2105 Federal Way is a quarter-mile walk from a #29 stop at Fed’l Wy * Overland. In most cities, that’s considered on a bus line. With a couple hundred potential riders, Valley Ride might consider rerouting. That’s an advantage of bus over rail; routes can change.