... 77 days till November 3rd ...
Dear neighbors,
Today the Committee to Restore Lake Dunlap begins a series of 11 weekly election updates that will run right up until we vote this November. We finally have the final ballot language we'll see in November, and I want to share it with you. Download the ballot language here.
In November, we will be asked to vote on three propositions and five candidates for the WCID Board of Directors. The focus of the Committee to Restore Lake Dunlap, however, is on the three propositions — A, B, and C — that must be passed to restore the dam. The CRLD was not organized to promote any of the candidates for the Board of Directors. [Full disclosure: I am one of the candidates.]
Proposition A asks voters to formally approve the Lake Dunlap Water Control & Improvement District (WCID).
Proposition B asks voters to approve an operations and maintenance tax to cover the required expenses of the district for legal, accounting, audit, and other services and to set an upper limit on this tax. Proposition B sets a maximum allowable rate of ten cents per hundred dollars in valuation for these costs, but the tax itself will be set each year in a public and transparent process completely based on the proposed district budget, which itself is created in a transparent, public process.
The tax rate needed for these Proposition B costs is estimated to be just $0.03/$100 in valuation. No buildings, office space, or staff are planned, and the board of directors will not receive any salaries.
Proposition C asks voters to allow the WCID to enter into a contract with the GBRA that provides significant cost sharing by directing 100% of the gross hydroelectric revenues to the debt and the balance to be paid via a tax paid by lakefront property owners. The GBRA will borrow the needed funds (to be set at the actual cost of the dam reconstruction) and the WCID will repay those funds on a fixed annual payment plan that is very similar to a mortgage. The contract tax rate is estimated to be at or below $0.17/$100 valuation.
Taken as a whole, A, B, and C would result in a total estimated tax rate of $0.20/$100 or below. That is already down to two-thirds of our estimate last October, and we hope to get it down still further.
The key point to understand about these propositions is that all three must pass if we want to see construction start and our dam restored. It's as easy as A, B, C!
In future updates, we'll dive into all the key aspects of the plan — but hey! You can see all that detail right now if you wish - download the FAQ!
Next week, two important new parts of the election effort will roll out. You'll begin to see yard signs promoting the effort to #RestoreLakeDunlap appearing all around the lake. We plan to put as many of these out as we can. While the signs are free to anyone interested, we are asking folks to consider paying it forward. A donation of $10 would allow us to buy another sign. Want a sign? We want you to have one! Hit reply and let us know!
Also this coming week, we are rolling out our program to ensure that there are lots of people in your neighborhoods with the facts about and benefits of the plan to bring back the lake. In this time when it is so hard to meet in person, we hope this grassroots face-to-face approach will help people get the info they need. If you would be willing to serve as a Neighborhood Captain, just hit reply and we'll set you up!
Questions? Hit reply and send 'em along. More over the next 77 days!
Sincerely,
Larry Johnson