South King Fire and Rescue is proposing a $45 million bond issue, noting as part of the justification the loss of property tax revenue from the housing market downturn.

Here’s a news flash for South King Fire and all the other taxation authorities: there was no downturn. In wall street speak there was a market bubble followed by an inevitable correction.  Recognizing the bubble wasn’t particularly hard. Near doubling of housing values in a few short years was a clear indication that external, unnatural forces were at play.

Equally obvious, at least to most of us, was that a correction was sure to follow. The only real questions were how high the bubble would go and how long would it last. Unfortunately, South King Fire (and most other government agencies) seem to have viewed the property tax windfall resulting from the bubble as the new status quo.

Expenditures, budgets and capital project goals were all adjusted upward to the new higher revenue stream, without regard for the consequences of the certain reduction to follow. South King Fire is only the latest in a long list of government entities trying to maintain operations and projects at the higher bubble level with a tax increase.

The rational for the increase, as described in the Mirror, also looked and smelled to me like a crystal palace of the now-gone higher revenue stream. My message to South King Fire is twofold and simple. If you so much as mention housing downturn revenue loss as part of the justification, or if you fail to adjust your appetite to the current property valuation reality, I’m a no vote.

Richard Wetjen, Federal Way