Living on Vashon, we are fortunate to have many people who care deeply about our community. People who advocate for others, who strive to keep a balance of equality. The reality, however, is that Vashon is an expensive place to live.

In Washington, we do not pay personal income tax. Yet on our small island, we still need the services larger, more affluent communities enjoy: Roads, schools, elder care, childcare, medical care, fire and EMS protection, the balm of our parks, to name a few.

And all of these things cost a lot of money — and the costs keep rising. A gallon of milk that once cost less than two dollars costs far more than twice that now. Houses, rent is astronomical. A box of bandages, once $.75 cents, costs three times that. Look around you. Is there anything that doesn’t cost far more than it did a few years ago?

So without a state income tax, where does the money to pay for all the service we need come from?

Taxes, of course. School taxes, fire and EMS taxes, park and hospital districts — levies that fund the things we can not do without.

Opponents to levies (“Taxed Enough Already”) speak about “waste,” but nowhere do any of them provide realistic solutions to even minimally fund the services we as a community need to survive.

Since we don’t pay a personal income tax, the money must come from somewhere else: Levies.

None of us want to pay taxes; many of us can barely afford to do so. But as a community, we can not survive without schools, roads, fire/EMS, and yes, health care and parks.

We owe it to our community, ourselves and each other to provide each other with the services we need. Support the community we love. Vote “yes” on all the levies.

— Mike and Brigitte (Schran) Brown