REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
HOLIDAYS:
The season kicks off with treelighting, art and cultural events, and concerts.
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011 | Vol. 111, No. 47 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
Council approves property tax bump
FEELING THE SQUEEZE
One percent increase passed unanimously to balance budget. By RICHARD D. OXLEY Staff Writer
Willie Wenzlau/For the Review
Jim Wilford, owner of Fletcher Bay Winery, pours grapes into a wine press to make this year’s Merlot.
City codes threaten winery
BOD_HOLIDAY_2011_REV.pdf
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Other wineries could be one complaint away from same threat. By RICHARD D. OXLEY Staff Writer
Over the last few weeks Jim Wilford has been crushing and pressing grapes in his driveway to make this year's vintage of Fletcher
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Bay wines. It's a hands-on process in which Wilford takes pleasure, whether he's selecting grapes or corking bottles. However, it's possible that vintage 2011 could be the last batch created by Fletcher Bay Winery. It's a chore he enjoys during the harvest season, but Wilford encountered a problem this year when a neighbor complained to the city that he was violating city codes. As a home-based
business in a residential area, city code requires that operations are conducted only indoors. This is a challenge for Wilford since there is little room indoors to crush and press grapes — a six-week process. "I love it, I enjoy providing good wine for people to drink," Wilford said. "... if we want to continue this, with restrictions on what these small wineries can do, there's just not going to be any. It will be a part of the
fabric of our community that will disappear." Wilford started Fletcher Bay Wines in 2008 after years of producing wine at home as a hobby, and he is not alone. Several other wineries have also emerged on the island — many home-based with varying indoor and outdoor operations — to form an industry that has become attractive to visitors. SEE WINERY, A5
The City Council approved a property tax increase on Monday, as well as a number of other items including the 2012 budget. The 1 percent increase to property taxes was unanimously approved by the City Council, and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012. “An average Bainbridge homeowner, with a home worth about $500,000, pays roughly $5,000 in total property tax for all public agencies,” said council member Barry Peters. “The City’s 12 percent share of that is roughly $600. The one percent property tax modification therefore results in the average homeowner contributing about $6 more to the City next year.” Peters said that the city has an option every year to raise taxes by either 1 percent, or by the rate of inflation — which ever is least. He feels this is not enough. Many costs that the city faces are rising faster than inflation such as petroleum-based road resurfacing materials or medical insurance costs for employees who deliver city services. Peters cited a 2001 Tim Eyman ballot measure
(Initiative 747) that restricted cities from raising property taxes more than one percent. “Under the Eyman measure, the City’s property tax revenue can’t even keep up with inflation,” Peters said. “…the regional inflation rate for the past 12 months was 3.8 percent.” He further noted that the 1 percent raise is significantly small when compared to other recent voterapproved tax increases such as the bond measure for the reconstruction of Wilkes School, or almost doubling the tax rate for EMT services. The city’s 2012 budget was also passed by a 4-0 vote — with two council members not present and one, Debbi Lester, abstaining. “I abstained because although the administration had $1.5 million in reductions, they had $2 million in increases,” Lester said. “And another part that concerned me were those increases were primarily staff and professional service increases.” Lester also noted that all council members were not present to vote and she felt they should be on matters such as the budget. During discussion over the budget, council member Hilary Franz proposed an idea to help solve an lingering issue regarding permit fees for the current road SEE PROPERTY TAX, A3