League hosts Goldsmith on County Taxes
The new Jefferson County League of Women Voters is presenting a public education forum and discussion on Tuesday, February 10th at 7PM at the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock.
David Goldsmith, Jefferson County Administrator, will be the featured presenter. Goldsmith describes a future “train wreck” for local government. He will discuss how local taxes are structured, who pays what and why and help residents understand and compare the local local re tax systems and options. Goldsmith will present COUNTY TAX 101, implications of recent initiatives and local choices in the next few years to fund various government departments and functions. The forums will help local taxpayers hear directly what they need to know about how they are taxed and how the money is spent. This topic is particularly important so that local taxpayers and citizens have the information they need to understand how and why the County is predicting a future “train wreck” in local County departments , budgets, and lay-offs in personnel.
The event is open to all local residents and citizens, not just League of Women Voters. This is third in a series of monthly public discussions and forums , presented by the nonpartisan league, to educate local citizens on public issues and events
Goldsmith has been a manager with Jefferson County almost thirty years. He has been the Director of Planning, Director of Human Resources, Budget Director and now County Administrator. He has a comprehensive understanding of all the departments and functions of the County and describes the current tax and budget as a “crisis “ for the County and local taxing districts.
City Manager, Dave Timmons, has also been invited to attend the discussion as well as other elected officials to respond to questions from those attending.
The local Jefferson County League of Women has about 30 local members. Both men and women are encouraged to join the nonpartisan citizen education group. Meetings are free and open to everyone to attend.
The local League is a chapter of the national citizen education group, the National League of Women Voters. And local members join both organizations for $40 a year. The League is a nonpartisan organization providing citizen education and popular voter services such as local voter education guide, candidate forums, and public education events such as the February 10th forum with Mr. Goldsmith.
In 2004 the Jefferson County League of Women Voters will be presenting a monthly series of voter and public education events on the second Tuesday of each month. The events are free, open to everyone, and will be held at the Jefferson County library in Port Hadlock.
Mr. Goldsmith is the third speaker in the 2004 voter education series. In the past the League hosted Representative Lynn Kessler in December. She presented an overview of issues facing the 2004 Legislative session. In January about 40 citizens attended a public forum presented by the Assistant to the Secretary of State for Washington on the new requirements for voting machines and choices around electronic voting. Future forums will be on youth voting issues, health and safety, and local elections.
The League also hosts study groups on national and local issues to reach consensus on policy recommendations for the League. At present the Jefferson County League is studying the options and possible recommendations surrounding federal and state requirements and options for electronic voting. More information on League study groups will be available at the February 10th meeting. More information and an analysis paper by the League is available at the Washington State League web site at www.lwva.wa.org.
For more information on the Jefferson County League of Women Voters contact Betty Todd, League Chair at 385-9987 or program chair, L. Katherine Baril at 379-5610
