Please vote for Monica MickHager for Port Townsend City Council. Monica has served on the city’s planning commission for more than 10 years, presiding over these meetings for more than four years. She respects and encourages public input.

In recent years, city council has frequently increased our city’s debt, almost exclusively without voter approval (Mountain View Commons being the only recent exception). In Jefferson County, per capita debt for residents outside the city is $74/person while it is a whopping $2,084/person for city residents (State Auditor’s Office as of Oct. 23, 2017). To cover this growing debt our annual debt service payments have increased from $1M to $1.7M over the last eight years.

Because property tax increases are limited to 1%/year plus new construction, this growing payment burden severely limits the city’s ability to respond to resident needs such as maintaining roads and promoting housing.

The state legislature recently passed legislation to permit the real estate excise tax (REET) to be used for affordable housing as well as road repair and park maintenance (RCW 82.46.035).  However, 100% of Port Townsend’s REET is allocated to cover debt payments. This important avenue for responding to local needs is no longer available to Port Townsend because of our runaway debt.

Help Monica change the priorities of City Council to gain control of the debt and redirect their focus to the needs of local families. Join me and vote for Monica MickHager.

Rick Jahnke
Port Townsend