Tax uncertainty is taxing for everyone

Agencies and taxpayers are nervous over the financial impacts of a federal court ruling that makes most of the properties in Shelter Bay and on Pull & Be Damned Road exempt from property taxes.

If the 931 homeowners on leased tribal land decide not to pay the second half of this year’s taxes due on October 31, as some owners have suggested, the La Conner School District and Fire District 13 are going to be scrambling to fill huge budget holes.

Worse, if the homeowners sue to have up to three years of property taxes refunded, the agencies and smaller pool of taxpayers left to fund them could be...