It is easy to think that the school bond is not relevant to you if you do not have children attending Tahoma Schools. Whether you do not have children, homeschool or your children have moved on, and if you own property in Maple Valley, a large percentage of the present and future value of your property is based upon the demand for real estate in Maple Valley. If the schools and educational capacity of the Tahoma School District continues to deteriorate our property values will similarly decline.

For the past 25 years I have been a real estate appraiser. Real estate appraisal is the practical application of economics in the form of analyzing buyer behavior and the current relationship between supply — houses listed for sale — and demand — houses that have sold or are pending sale. While we all know that the value of our homes is comprised of the location, lot size, condition, bedroom count, living area, etc., being located in a good school district is also a factor.

One of the reasons people want to buy homes in Maple Valley is the Tahoma School District. If more of those potential buyers decide that there are better educational alternatives to the Tahoma School District, they will buy elsewhere. Reduced buyers means reduced demand and lower property values.

Whether you have children attending Tahoma Schools or not, your property value will be impacted by the condition and capacity of the schools. The condition of the structure of our community is no different than the condition of the structure of your home. If your roof is in need of maintenance or replacement, it negatively affects the value of your house. While it is possible to delay repairs or replacement for some period of time, there is a point where putting off the maintenance of your roof will impact the entire structural integrity of your home.

Just as it is necessary to maintain your home to protect its value, the community must invest in our educational infrastructure to protect the value of our homes in that community. So we can pay a little bit now and over time to restore and improve the integrity of our schools through the school bond measure and benefit from buyer demand when we sell our homes or we can watch the schools and our property values significantly deteriorate as buyers search elsewhere for homes to buy.

I urge you to vote yes on the Tahoma School Bond.

Robert Palmer

Maple Valley