| Port Townsend: Public forum will be held on proposed property
tax increase PORT TOWNSEND, WA-- The date hasn't been set, but the City Council agreed Monday night that a public forum is needed to allow discussion of a ballot measure that would increase the property tax rate by $1 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The property tax levy lift, if approved by voters in the Nov. 2 general election, would push the tax rate to $2.95 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Former City Councilman Al Frank, who is speaking out against the proposed increase, said the council should have had a public forum before putting it on the ballot. Frank, who no longer lives in the city but is still a property owner and taxpayer, questioned wording of the ballot title Monday night. Another former councilman, Vern Garrison, also spoke out against the proposed tax and said the council would ``rue the day it went out.'' Garrison said the city's sudden move to put the measure on the ballot ``reeks of mismanagement.'' Forum before mailings Absentee ballots for the November general election will be mailed on Oct. 13, and council members said the public forum might have to be held the day before. The council's finance and budget committee was charged with making
the final decision on the date for the forum.
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