One can only hope that the next county council will have more regard for the hardworking, tax-paying residents of San Juan County than this unfortunate group we have been burdened with for the last few years.

The proposed “cultural affairs” tax is one last $800,000 annual knockout punch from them to further hamper islanders already struggling with the high cost of living in our county.

Most islanders have come to understand the difference between a need and a want.

Sacrifices are made by our industrious community daily, often including working multiple jobs and giving up normal niceties to make ends meet. Federal and state politicians, especially in Washington State, rarely seem to concern themselves with the effects of their constant money grabs from citizens but I would expect our local leaders, who are also friends and neighbors, to be more protective.

Sadly, they are not, seeming to be more concerned with unnecessary “feel good’ programs that serve few but cost us all. It is another shameful example of government waste and our local public servants kowtowing to the self-serving fringe in Olympia.

Are our public servants unaware that locals pay sales tax also and not just tourists? Local merchants scratch and struggle to keep business local only to be beaten down by our own government entities continuously raising taxes.

This Cultural Access tax is ridiculous. Schools should be fully funded by the State of Washington and not by an end run local sales tax. The remaining tax is to fund vague and amorphous cultural programs, unnamed with no specific descriptions of who they are and exactly what they are doing with our hard-earned money. Yes, county council, wages we labor to earn are not yours for the taking on a whim. This is not a need, it is a fanciful waste of time and money…..again.

Lauren Cohen

Friday Harbor