This is a local issue which is duplicating itself all over the country.
The formerly quaint agricultural town of Sequim, WA is undergoing the same ugly transformation that’s happening everywhere. Surrounding farmland is being plowed up and turned into malls and housing tracts.
Most of the newcomers to Sequim are California transplants who’ve made a financial killing selling their homes in California. They’re coming to Sequim in droves because of the cheap (compared to California) housing prices.
Now there’s an initiative on next month’s ballot: a tax of one half of one percent will be paid by the buyers of property in Sequim. If someone buys a $200,000 house, the tax will be $1,000. This is expected to generate millions of dollars over a ten-year period.
The money will be used to purchase development rights from willing landowners. It will make it profitable (that is, possible) for farmers to keep farming, instead of having to sell their land to developers in order to survive.
Needless to say, real estate interests from all over the country are uniting to fight this initiative. There’s a phony “grass roots” organization calling itself Stop Taxing The American Dream. (smirk) If there were a contest for Euphemism of the Year, these assholes would win hands down.
So far, outside interest groups have contributed more than $125,000 to Stop Taxing The American Dream. There’ll be a lot more money coming during the next week; count on it. They need to spend tons of money to conjure up these folksy, touching images of first time home buyers being shut out of the housing market because of this evil tax.
Hopefully the ads won’t fool anybody, since everyone knows most of Sequim’s newcomers have just made a jillion dollar deal from selling their California homes.
Real estate interests are terrified that this menace will be duplicated all over the country if it succeeds here. More and more people are starting to wonder where our food will come from if all the farmland is converted to condos and Wal-Marts. The real estate industry is willing to spend whatever it takes to nip this in the bud.
Let’s hope the voters will be smart enough to see through this phony grass roots campaign waged by real estate interests.
cross-posted at Who Hijacked Our Country
I grew up near Sequim and go back every year. Last summer I hiked the Grey Wolf valley. Sequim is a disaster area. It really hurts to see the McMansions sprouting like mushrooms on the hill behind the town. Still nice, though towards the Dungeness Spit. Keep your fingers crossed.
This will be an interesting election. I have numerous staunch Repub neighbors (out near the Dungeness Spit, Knut) who are strongly pro yes. It’s the realtors who are hammering the no message. Just maybe, the backlash against Bush will give some True Reds pause. There have been a number of wonderful LTE’s on the yes side, and some creative half page ads in the Peninsula Daily News.
I am hoping that voters are figuring out that we have a serious problem. The problem’s not unique, though; it’s our demographic that is unusual. The I Got Mine crowd…
Would you be willing to cross-post this at Kos? Anyone who wants to get involved ($$$) can check out:
http://yagottaeat.org/
I know a lot of these farmers; this is make or break time for them, even though in many cases they can only afford to lease farmland.
When I lived in Washington – I remember when the Kent Valley was mostly dairy farms – Port Townsend was a fishing village and Sequim was where Boeing engineers went to retire. I still have fond memories of the coast along the Strait. It is dismaying to learn it has been “Californicated.”
I shudder to think what will happen if your efforts are defeated.
Knut: I’ve just been in this area a little over a year, but Sequim has changed (for the worse) even since then. Parts of it look like a construction zone. The Dungeness Spit and a lot of surrounding countryside are still pretty. I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed.
Skwimmer: I’m hoping more people will see through the realtors’ phony grass roots campaign. There’s no way the people moving to Sequim are first time buyers who would be shut out by an extra $1,000 tax.
I know some of the local farmers just through the Port Angeles Farmers’ Market. For them it’s not just a ½ % tax; their livelihoods are at stake here.
I don’t have a diary at Kos. I’d love to post this over there. What do I have to do?
ATinNM: Yeah, it’s too bad this area has been Californicated. I’m an ex-Californian, but we moved here to blend in and adapt, and not bring California with us.