SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, December 28, 2011 n VOL. 44, NO. 52 n 75¢
10 ‘11
www.islandssounder.com
Sales tax and real estate sales slightly down from last year
F R O M
by MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH Staff reporter
After looking at 2011 San Juan County sales tax revenue as well as real estate sales, the results are a bit down from 2010.
Sales tax numbers
Year in review second of two parts
Jessie Stensland / Whidbey News-Times
Colton Harris-Moore during his sentencing hearing in Coupeville.
I
by SOUNDER & JOURNAL STAFF
t’s time for our annual roundup of the stories that made headlines throughout the year. Last week featured: No. 10: Orcas Fire brings piece of World Trade Center to Orcas; No. 9: Orcas wins Island Cup again; No. 8: Community saves sports; No. 7: Discover Pass implemented; No. 6: Rec District Levy passes. The final five are detailed below.
No. 5 New food bank building Since its inception roughly 26 years ago, the Orcas Food Bank has bounced around from one location to the next, depending on the generosity of various organizations. Four years ago it was operating out of a storage shed on Mount Baker Road. In the winter clients lined up to wait their turn in the numbing cold, facing rain and snow, sometimes with babies and small children in their arms. In 2009 the food bank was relocated to the basement of the Orcas Island Community Church, which provided a warm, dry place for patrons to eat a hot lunch while they waited. Food bank directors Larry and Joyce Shaw didn’t stop there. The tiny distribution rooms were crowded,
and there wasn’t enough room to store the food onsite, making frequent trips to a storage unit necessary. The Shaws began dreaming about providing the food bank with its own modular building. The church offered a $1 per year extended lease for the building to be placed on church grounds, and the fundraising began. The community watched the campaign’s progress on a wooden dial placed in Eastsound. An anonymous donor offered $65,000 in matching funds if the community could raise $65,000 to supply the $130,000 needed to purchase, place and finish the building. A final push in the fall of 2010 drew characteristic generosity from islanders and local nonprofits, and by mid-November the dial was pushed past 100 percent, with $5,000 to spare for a building maintenance fund. The fundraising happened in 2010, but the fruition came this year: the new 24’ x 48’ building was brought over by barge and set on its foundation this summer. Designed for efficient visitor flow, it’s also outfitted with shelving for food storage, sinks, a restroom, office space and refrigerators and freezers. Goodbye, trips to the warehouse.
Hello, better accommodations for hungry islanders and food bank volunteers.
No. 4: Barefoot Bandit sentenced On Dec. 16, Camano Island native Colton Harris-Moore, aka the Barefoot Bandit, was sentenced to seven years and three months’ incarceration in a Washington state prison. The 20-year-old pled guilty to 33 state charges, including burglary and identity theft” 16 filed by Island County prosecutor Greg Banks and 17 counts filed by San Juan County prosecutor Randy Gaylord. Charges filed in Skagit County were dropped, Gaylord said, because the Skagit prosecutor said he was not prepared to go to trial. Harris-Moore was on the lam for two years, hiding out in Orcas Island homes and the woods before finally being caught in July 2010 in the Bahamas. He reportedly spent time hiding in an airplane hangar owned by Mike and Dawn Parnell, waiting until they flew off so he could drive their car to their home, eat their food and wear their clothing. He reports biking around Orcas Island during his time on the run. He stole six boats and airplanes from San
SEE TOP 10, PAGE 6
Total county sales tax revenue for 2011 will be 2.7 percent lower than it was in 2010. County sales tax revenue, which includes criminal justice, juvenile justice, lodging tax, mental health tax, and rural sales and use tax, totaled $5,087,083 in 2010 and will total roughly $4,950,000 in 2011. Local option, sales tax revenue, which makes up the largest part of county sales tax, was $2,900,904 in 2010. For 2011, that figure is $2,808,050, or 3.2 percent less.
SEE 2011 SALES TAX, PAGE 7
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