Letters to the Editor: June

The Editor:

At our meeting on May 8, 2025, the board of directors of the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association (PRTA) voted unanimously to endorse the proposed Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) levy lift, which will come before the voters on the August 2025 primary election ballot.

We reviewed and discussed information provided to us by WCLS and Friends of the Point Roberts Library. The current levy was approved by the voters in 2009, at the rate not to exceed $0.44 per $1,000 of property valuation. Over the years, WCLS (like other taxing agencies) has been limited by law to annual budget increases of only one percent – far below the prevailing rate of inflation. WCLS and other agencies can only levy the amount in their approved budget. As property values increased, the effective rate has declined to $0.26 today.

WCLS is asking voters to approve a “levy lift” to restore the rate to $0.42. If approved that rate will be applied to current property values, providing WCLS with increased revenue in order to maintain current levels of services, facilities and staffing and to build up reserve funds for the future (as the effective rate gradually declines again). This system of budgets, caps and levies is obviously complicated; but a voter-approved levy lift is the only available mechanism for WCLS to increase its revenue commensurate with costs and inflation. All reserve funds put aside in past years are now exhausted. If the measure is not approved by the voters, WCLS will have to reduce costs through reduction in services and staffing.

Note that this ballot measure applies to the entire WCLS, including Point Roberts, where our local branch library is an essential and vibrant part of the community, providing books, online resources, educational programs and other activities to all residents.

PRTA urges everyone to support the levy lift and in particular urges voters to approve the ballot measure in August.

A copy of the resolution adopted by our board of directors on May 8, 2025, is available upon request by emailing PRTA@pointroberts.net.

Mark Robbins, president, Point

Roberts Taxpayers Association

The Editor & Whatcom County

Executive Satpal Sidhu:

The recent letter to the All Point Bulletin from Patrick Nevraumont (May 2025 issue) on county parks “abandoning” the pier and boat launch at Lighthouse Park is spot on.

We have been without a floating dock at Lighthouse Park for 16 years. Prior to that time, we had a wooden dock secured on wooden pilings that served as a floating platform for launching and docking small boats and kayaks and a place for kids to fish. I took my young son and his friends there on many occasions.

At the end of the summer, the dock was hauled up on the beach to avoid damage from winter storms. It served its purpose well for 16 years (1992-2008).

The wooden dock and pilings eventually required replacement. This process required six years, during which time we were without a dock (from 2008 to 2014).

To be fair, the removal of eight creosoted wooden anchor pilings and replacement with eight aluminum ones (see attached photos) required more equipment and expense than just replacement of the dock.

However, when the replacement was completed in 2014 at a reported cost of $300,000, the structure broke up after only a few weeks.

Apparently the new dock was designed for a lake, not an ocean with more severe wind, wave and tidal variations. Since then, we have been without a dock.

Who is responsible for this fiasco? County parks? The county executive? County council? (Who likely approved the expenditure of funds for this ill-advised project?)

Has the manufacturer of the faulty dock been held to account for providing a product that they knew, or should have known, would not work? Maybe an audit would be in order. But that prospect is unlikely.

In 2023, I submitted a quotation from EZ Dock, a reputable Seattle manufacturer, for a replacement dock of similar size as the original. With a proven design suitable for Lighthouse Park.

It was also one third the cost of the failed lake dock. It was never considered. Fast forward to 2025. No dock and no viable boat launch at Lighthouse Park.

Just eight aluminum pilings in the water. A monument to your administration’s inept handling of what could have been a valuable, viable community asset.

Not to close on a negative note, but it is still possible to anchor the EZ Dock on these aluminum pilings.

Are you and the county willing to give it a try?

John Lesow

North Vancouver and Point Roberts

The Editor:

To those members of the Point Roberts community who responded to the recent survey regarding the collapse of the Seabright Stairs: Thank you.

The results of that survey are in the hands of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) sub-committee that has been tasked with addressing this issue.

Two of the insights learned from the survey results are particularly noteworthy. The first of these insights is the strong community support for addressing the issue. One hundred ninety-nine members of this relatively small community took the time to respond to the survey. Even more noteworthy than the greater than expected number of responses, was the number and thoughtfulness of the optional comments. These comments demonstrate that, generally, the community has a realistic understanding of the financial, political and construction challenges to any resolution that favors the best interests of Point Roberts.

In light of the fact that neither Whatcom County nor Seabright stakeholders have demonstrated meaningful interest in responding to the collapse of the stairs, the likelihood of a satisfactory resolution to this issue will depend on the resolve and steadfastness of this community. Given the strengths exemplified by the survey results it certainly appears that the community is up to the challenge.

So again, to the community members who responded to the survey: Thank you!

Tom and Lenore Yeager

Point Roberts

The Editor:

At the beginning of July, registered voters will be mailed a ballot that contains a resolution to ‘lift the lid’ on the property tax levy that funds the Whatcom County Library System (WCLS). The last time WCLS asked for a new levy was in 2009, and that levy was approved by voters. Since then, WCLS have been restricted to only a 1 percent annual increase to the dollar amount of its revenue, which has over time completely failed to cover the increase in library users and number of services provided, as well as the cost of all services. You can pick up a detailed analysis of income vs costs over time at any WCLS library branch or access it via wcls.org/levy.

What do we get from WCLS? Of course, they offer canonical print books and a surprising variety of tangible items such as film and music discs, audiobooks, toys, ukeleles, games and puzzles. A good number of digital resources like Ancestry.com and ConsumerReports.org are also available in the library or from the comfort of your home and are added to periodically. You can explore it all at wcls.org.

Since 2009, there has been truly dramatic increase in WCLS’s provision of digital and online content like films (Kanopy), music (Freegal), eBooks, and e-Audiobooks (Libby), which some people see as an opportunity to increase service without increasing costs. Not so. Not many people realize that some digital content costs more than tangible items because the library does not actually own these products but must lease them and renew leases after a certain number of checkouts. Moreover, unlike personal subscriptions and purchases, libraries must pay a much higher “institutional” rate for many items. The cost for eBooks and eAudio alone has increased 164 percent over the past decade ... a rate that far exceeds the increase in WCLS’s tax revenue over the same period.

In addition to tangible and digital resources, WCLS functions as a service hub for the community. Many times I have seen our dedicated librarians provide a welcoming orientation service for newcomers and visitors. During Covid, WCLS supplied us free Covid tests, and they now provide Narcan and other items on request. They host socialization, educational and enrichment opportunities for people of all ages.

To provide all these services, WCLS has been dipping into reserves, and are now forced into the position of asking voters to approve a levy lid lift that will come close to restoring the original 2009 levy rate. Without this increase, they will need to cut staff or opening hours. It seems like such a small price to pay for all that our library provides.

Rhiannon Allen

Point Roberts