Letter: Taxes are for essentials, not recreation for the few

I see no reason why Kennewick’s almost 80,000 residents should be taxed to build an ice rink next to the Toyota Center when the stated purpose is to provide a home for recreational activity that serves only a few hundred people.

Taxes should be for providing essential services such as police, fire, water systems and roads that benefit the community as a whole. If the proposal for a 0.2 percent sales tax increase is successful and an ice rink is built with some of the money, I will remember this unnecessary expenditure the next time city officials call for increasing fees, taxes or another ballot measure to build a fire station or rebuild our city infrastructure.

This is one more reason I cannot support The Link on the Nov. 7 ballot.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Letter: Taxes are for essentials, not recreation for the few."