Senior Sales Tax
Dear Editor: I saw some things at the Tuesday Assembly meeting that should worry people. I watched senior citizens get up and say why they do not want to lose their tax exemptions. These were people who I hadn’t seen for years. They used to volunteer for everything. They were always in the paper supporting something for kids and I always thought how can anybody be that nice? Then I never really see them anymore and I thought they must have left town? Then here they are in the 70s giving their testimony and all they wanted was a little break. Some of their voices would start to crack since this was very emotional for them. They don’t make much money anymore and their Social Security isn’t much, they just need a little help. And then all of a sudden up pops seniors from high school who supported taking away the senior exemption, so more money could go into the education black hole and fund the ever-expensive Performing Arts Center. It was disgusting. They talked monotone and without any expression on their face. This was just like what the kids looked like on this documentary I saw on TV on what happened to the German youths in the 1930s. They had the kids go after the elderly and the sick.
I say no more money to the school system until they root out teachers and maybe even School Board members who are brainwashing these school kids. We now have kids in high school who think we should have to give up guns and now kids who think the elderly should be sent packing. I am sure some parents are so proud of their kids showing such disrespect to the elderly people in voicing their opinions. Let these kids go out first into the real world and work for many years like these senior citizens did, then see how they feel. We now have a big problem.
Mike Svenson, Sitka
Senior Tax Program
Dear Editor: We have lived in Sitka for 30 years, raised two daughters, one who currently resides here, we’ve paid taxes, paid user fees, and bought local the majority of the time. We both just turned 65 and Michelle has been retired for three years after 40 years in the nursing field, the last 10 years as a nurse practitioner. We always viewed the Senior Citizen Tax Free Program as a reward for making it this far living in Sitka and ‘‘paying our dues.’’ I’ve told Michelle that we should be able to retire in Sitka even though several of our friends and acquaintances have retired elsewhere. As of late, I’m having my doubts.
We have an unattached building space at our home that is used as an art studio, it has its own electric meter and is heated with a heat pump. In the past two years, with no change sin use of that building, the utility bill has gone from $35 a month to the latest bill of $101. I don’t even want to talk about the main house utility bill. On top of that, our current Assembly has seen fit to take away the tax-free status we enjoyed all of seven weeks.
I know there are Assembly members I will NOT be voting for again, we will definitely utilize our Amazon Prime membership and online shopping more, find out if we can sell our house for current market value in lieu of the current fiscal state of Sitka, and I guess we will need to figure out where we will spend our twilight years when I retire because it sure isn’t looking very promising to stay here in Sitka.
Peter and Michelle Kennedy, Sitka
