Once again our Maple Valley city govt. has amazed, but not amused us.

An earlier article in one of the local papers stated that the city was over half a million dollars in debt.

Wouldn’t it be great if the rest of us could simply run our households without thinking income vs. expenditures?So, despite all the talk about considering alternate ways to help reduce this debt (getting rid of excess personnel, etc) the city council decided to make the city residents pay (and pay) for this ineptness.

At the Nov. 26 Maple Valley City Council meeting, they passed two ordinances. One was to pass a 2013 property tax levy, and the other was a levy lid increase of 0.9 percent.The first ordinance means that property owners will have to pay $1.55 for every $1,000 of assessed value.

Now according to my math, that means that a property valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $155.

Property valued at $200,000 would be an increase of $310, and a $300,000 would be $465 more in taxes… and so forth.In the same article, it states that this will happen even though our overall property values are dropping.

And, as if to add insult to injury, this same paper ran an article stating that the city council had also decided to impose a vehicle fee for every resident within the city limits, of $20 per vehicle.

So, for all you folks out there with kids who are living at home and have their own cars, do the math. This all adds up – to too much.

What a “privilege” to live within a city limits with a governing body that can’t manage their own finances, and feel it is within their “right” to pass those mistakes on to the residents. Shame on you!!!

At the same time, the city’s new construction has increased by 116 percent, from $26.6 million to $57.5 million.

Another article quoted the city manager, David Johnston: “We’re here to attract jobs, and because we don’t know what businesses would be interested in locating here, you provide a certain amount of latitude.”

What does that mean? What kind of latitude? Like the 100 foot building OK on the re-zoning for the Brandt Property?

So, as a resident, I can hardly wait to see what more lousy ideas our city govt. thinks up, so the rest of us can continue to pay, and pay, for their errors.

Judy Hines

Maple Valley