There are so many “whys” with Proposition 1.

Why do we need another tax? (Taxes are choking me!)

Why should I believe this tax will end after seven years? (It has never happened before!)

Why not encourage bigger business and let new jobs solve the problem?

Why can’t we just let Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County continue to build affordable housing?

Why do we need another governmental program? (Just more bureaucracy!)

I will tell you why. Take a look around you. Where have all the young people gone? Where are the children who used to play in our streets? Where are the people that our remaining businesses need to hire as the economy improves? Where are the caregivers we need to serve our aging population? Where are the teachers to replace the many who are about to retire? Where are the workers our farming community needs to continue its revitalization? Where are the carpenters, the plumbers, the electricians, the painters to support the upturn in our building trades?

They are not here.

They are east of the bridge, where pay is higher. And, they are in Clallam County, where they can still find housing. Our population is now the oldest in the state and growing older. The reasons are many, but the primary challenge is housing. There is no rental housing in Jefferson County.

And when a room or an apartment does become available, the cost deters all but high-income people.

Prop. 1 creates a local home fund, to be managed by a local citizen advisory board, supported by a single additional county employee, and is patterned after the one in Bellingham, which raised $63 million in matching grants via the $12 million they collected in taxes (leverage of 5.25 to 1), producing 346 new households since 2012. This is the leverage that will allow us to build or refurbish between 250 and 350 low-cost housing units over the next seven years. Imagine the impact that will have in our community. People who want the jobs we urgently need to fill could actually afford to live here.

It is not often that we have the opportunity to leverage our tax money by five times, especially when creating affordable housing where there is none. There are so many aspects of this proposition that deserve our support:

On average, this tax will cost less than our subscriptions to Netflix.

The only way the tax can be extended after seven years is by another public vote.

TRANSPARENCY

Transparent financial management is guaranteed and overseen by a local citizen home fund board, which will review and decide the fate of each project.

It is strongly supported by Habitat for Humanity, which wants to leverage their work by creating a revolving fund to support loans for down payments and renovations.

OlyCAP could initiate Phase II of its successful South Seven project in Port Hadlock, adding 14 new apartments.

Sarge’s Place could build housing for homeless veterans, like they do in Forks and Port Angeles.

The Peninsula Housing Authority could attract outside funding to build another 20-40 rental units at their Garden Court in Port Hadlock.

Other housing organizations, both inside and outside our county, will build here when they see we are ready to invest in housing.

I am an independent voter with no political affiliation. I had nothing to do with creating this program and I have nothing to gain by its passage. But after several days of research, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how this home fund board will work the way local government is supposed to work – local citizens managing local revenues to attract additional funding as a means to build low-cost housing.

Yes, please ask why. And then consider the opportunity.

Not just for those families whose low incomes will qualify them to live in these homes, but also consider the positive economic impact of this new construction in our community.

If we waste this opportunity, access to our housing market will continue to be limited to those with the financial resources to retire in Jefferson County, our population will continue to grow older, and the younger people who serve our community will continue to leave.

What better way to use our taxes than to stop this spiral?

Tom Giske is a member of the Jefferson County Planning Commission. He worked for 45 years in sales and marketing for IBM and Fujitsu, and retired to Port Ludlow in 2005, where he was president of the local garden club for two years. He lives with his wife, Heidi Lee. His work was recently published in “The Ghosts of Seattle Past.”