Letters for March 4, 2024

Share funding effectively

In reading recent letters regarding failed school bonds and other tax and civil infrastructure issues, I think we need to refocus the lens of government function. Pardon the sports analogy but football games are usually won by the team that has mastered the fundamentals of offensive blocking and defensive tackling.

Government function, as in the control of everything our tax dollars are spent on, should collectively get back to proper blocking and tackling. Every function from police protection to garbage collection to school operations has a position in our civic world, and they all need funding. Our governmental system is such that we divide that funding into property taxes, bonds, levies and fees, with each of these seeming to float independently. That’s all fine and well for government functions to play that game, but for me it all comes from one wallet.

Collectively all the government functions should huddle together and get the priorities of blocking and tackling in order. In my opinion the priorities run something like the following: 1, Public safety including police and fire protection and response; 2, infrastructure including roads, bridges, water and sewer operations; 3, installation and operation of generally useful civic accouterments including schools, libraries, hospitals, parks; 4, installation and operation of ancillary civic stuff such as stadiums.

Government is trying to spread available tax funds over too wide a range of priorities, effectively underfunding the highest. Without assured public safety and protection of personal property, the rest of it won’t matter.

John Koehn

Spokane

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Spokane