Residents discuss future of community council, alternatives

Published 1:30 pm Tuesday, October 20, 2015

By ANNELI FOGT

Editor

Roughly 10 islanders met at McMurray Middle School Monday night to hear the results of the King County Assessor’s Office’s valuation of island properties and determine what would be the future of the Vashon-Maury Islands Community Council, which has been defunct since last year.

Phillip Sit, a spokesman from the assessor’s office, presented the results of the property assessments conducted earlier this year and said the average home value on Vashon has risen from last year. The average home this year is $449,900, up $30,500 from last year. He also explained that just because a property’s value goes up, it does not mean taxes on that property will also go up. He stressed that property taxes are part of a large picture, in which the money local agencies are calling for in their budgest is broken up into the taxes for each home.

“There is not a one-to-one ratio between property value and increased taxes on that property,” Sit said. “Just because your appraisal goes up does not mean you will be paying more taxes. It’s all relative.”

Residents interested in researching property values of their home or comparable homes can look at the county’s property value website.

After Sit’s presentation, islander Jake Jacobovitch asked attendees what the future of the years-defunct community council should be.

“Should we let it wither on the vine? Or is it worthwhile?” He asked.

The council was brought to an end several years ago when the entire board amid what former VMICC president Tim Johnson said was “threats of lawsuits” and endless public records requests stemming from drama between an islander and the board.

Island activist and real estate broker Emma Amiad was the first one to speak and talked at length about not bringing the council back, but replacing it with an unofficial organization that could organize quarterly forums to inform the public about relevant issues such as public safety or land use.

“The format (of the VMICC) didn’t work,” Amiad said. “The job of the community council was to be a conduit between Vashon and King County, and we need to keep that conduit.”

Discussion continued about how leadership would work without a formal board, and Amiad pointed to Vashon’s Social Services Network as an example. The network connects the island’s social service organizations and residents in need of the services to county resources.

Read more about the meeting and the plans to replace the community council in next week’s Beachcomber.