Vote no on ballot Proposition No. 1

Putting a cap on property taxes sounds appealing at first blush, but I like the services I get from the approximately 37% of my tax payment left after the other 63% goes to fund education (about 52%) and debt service (about 11%).

With both federal and state dollars in question I certainly don't want to cut education, and I believe in paying one's debts. I oppose handcuffing ourselves by creating an artificial cap. I enjoy the libraries, the transit system, park and recreation programs and other services we already get, and I also realize the city may be faced with financial demands from abating the glacial outburst floods and perhaps from assuming more responsibility for our garbage should Waste Management give up disposing of our waste in a challenging (and surely almost full) site.

So I'm asking my friends to think of Proposition 1 not as tax relief, but as a cut in the very services that make Juneau such an attractive place to live. I ask them to vote no on Ballot Proposition 1.

Then, I ask them to think in advance which services they will recommend the Assembly to cut if they vote otherwise.

Richard Stokes

Juneau