Climate and levies . . .

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on COP15 I’ll share this blog site where a team from Yale focused on China has been blogging live. This post again points to the make or break position that both China and the U.S. have in these delicate negotiations. Secretary Clinton raised the ante with a $100 billion commitment to developing nations.

I like this part of her presentation.

I have often quoted a Chinese proverb which says that when you are in a common boat, you have to cross the river peacefully together. Well, we are in a common boat. All of the major economies have an obligation to commit to meaningful mitigation actions and stand behind them in a transparent way. And all of us have an obligation to engage constructively and creatively toward a workable solution. We need to avoid negotiating approaches that undermine rather than advance progress toward our objective.

It raises the ante by meeting one of China’s stated needs, more money for developing nations while also reinforcing the U.S. need for transparency by China.

Closer to home, the board Tuesday approved resolutions for the operations and technology levies to go before the voters on February 9th. Yesterday, we shared the information at the Chamber meeting where their board endorsed both measures. This is a critical endorsement as the Chamber represents an essential component of our team and has the capacity to have a positive influence in the community. At both meetings the following slide was used to share our concern.

The recent economic downturn and its impact on the housing industry have resulted in turbulence for us. What to ask for based on the Governor’s budget proposal with the potential to increase revenue through local collections was difficult to process and changes at the county level have made setting of levy amounts much different than in previous years. The result of the county’s recent reviews of assessed valuation is a 14.6% decrease in the district’s assessed value. This means an increase in dollars per thousand of about $.50. In most years there is little fluctuation in this number so this is significant. It is this number times the assessed value of one’s home that determines how much one pays in school taxes. It makes our task more difficult this year with the issues faced by many and the changes to numbers that are difficult to explain and will impact how some view the need for these replacement levies.

We will be sharing with staff at meetings on January 4th.