LEVIES: Bailouts for poor planning

Historically levies were to pay for an emergency or some unplanned event. Here they appear to be used to cover mismanagement or poor management and to pass the errors on to the homeowner. The School District has a levy for maintenance, not because of a fire or unique weather event, but routine wear and tear on the buildings. Managing facilities and the equipment to run those facilities is part of managing an operation or business.

Because of poor management, the property owner is asked to bailout the district and pay for building maintenance.

In Hayden, we were told we do not support law enforcement unless we pass a levy for more officers. The Hayden budget had $700,000 for law enforcement but the "task force" demanded more. This is not a new problem, with essentially the same task force recommending the same thing in 2019. That levy override failed. The city staff made no significant improvement and now a problem developing for years requires a levy. The city staff had not addressed the need sufficiently in budgets, though the current budget does include a cost of living 5% raise for them. Elderly on fixed incomes of Social Security may face losing their homes, though a deputy states we must “Back the Blue." It is not the neighborhoods where increased crime occurs, but businesses shielded from property tax increases by urban renewal. Law enforcement and fire protection should be top priorities where city managers start their budgets.

PAUL MAHLOW

Hayden