Trying to determine if your property taxes for Lake Washington schools will go up or down if voters approve the Lake Washington school property taxes? They don’t make it easy! The glossy four page brochure from the school district tells you six times that your tax rate will go down or stay the same. Never once do they tell you what your tax bill will do. The big beautiful postcard from the Citizens Levy committee repeats that mantra, telling you five times your tax rate will go down. Never once do they tell you what your tax bill will do. Curious oversight?

When you pay your property taxes, you don’t pay the “tax rate,” you pay the tax bill. Your tax bill requires multiplying your tax rate times the value of your residence. According to LWSD numbers, they’ve lowered the tax rate by 7.3 percent. Sadly, according to the county Assessor’s Office, every year for the last four years home values in LWSD have increase by more than that, an average of 10.7 percent. In simple terms, if voters approve these issues, your property taxes will go up again, not down.

The school district knows that and they owe voters more honesty and transparency than their levy brochure provides. The Citizens Committee should know that as well. On top of that, with the state taking over full funding of basic education, we are supposed to be getting lower local levy taxes to provide relief for the huge state property tax increase. Demand more honesty, transparency and local tax relief! Vote “no” on LWSD props. 1, 2 and 3. Tell LWSD to do it over until they get it right.

Eric Rohrbach

Redmond