Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeSpeaking in broad general terms, cities, counties and states should seriously work harder at establishing the so-called rainy-day accounts. Washington has such a law. It is something that should have happened a long time ago, but it didn't. As we look at the state of our nation currently and how rapidly this came about it should be a signal to us, not to drive ourselves so fast that we would not be able to properly react should something suddenly appear in our headlights.
Now with regard to specifics, Franklin County has experienced significant growth, and is currently behind the curve in terms of workload on both the city and the county. The upcoming election has a 0.3 percent sales tax increase, in order to build a Pasco Police facility as well as Franklin County's need to remodel and add onto the county jail. Both of these are very worthy projects.
Here is something else to consider about this tax. People who come to Franklin County/Pasco are subject to paying the sales tax just like residents, so some of the taxes will be paid by persons not living here. Also remember that this tax does have an end to it, and it is possible that it could be paid off prior to the expiration of the length of the bond. The passage of this sales tax increase, might lessen the impact of the budget shortfall for Franklin County and Pasco.
-- Mike Clements, Pasco
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