Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 15 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM |
almanac 2014 Whidbey Island
H I S TO RY
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FIGURES
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Whidbey Island Almanac 2014
The complete guide to living on Whidbey Island A PUBLICATION OF THE WHIDBEY NEWS-TIMES, SOUTH WHIDBEY RECORD & WHIDBEY EXAMINER
Langley PD: three officers or four?
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Charlie Liggitt, an officer with the Langley Police Department, patrols on foot around the city. For the past six months, the city’s law enforcement operated with two officers and an interim chief, which they say spread them too thin and exposed them to excessive “officer fatigue.”
Study proposes full staff, but neither option allows 24/7 coverage By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record A months-long study of whether the Langley Police Department should have three or four officers, set to be discussed by city leaders Tuesday night, concludes that four officers are needed. But Mayor Fred McCarthy, the man in charge of setting staff sizes and city hall priorities, neither agreed with nor rejected the study’s position ahead of the city council meeting. The study was conducted at McCarthy’s request by acting Chief David Marks. The mayor declined to divulge his recommendation, saying he had not informed his staff and wanted
to reveal his position at Tuesday’s meeting. “There’s all sorts of opinions and controversy about what the size of our force would be,” McCarthy said, adding that the study will give city leaders something to lean on as a defense of the police force’s numbers. “We’ll have the response that we did a comprehensive study.” Despite not tipping his hand as to whether he would seek to hire a fourth officer, McCarthy said his recommendation would not allow for 24-hour Langley Police Department coverage for the city. “I don’t think we can get 24/7 coverage from either recom-
mendation,” he said. The more-than-60-page study concludes that the estimated $70,000 savings for Langley by having two officers and a police chief would be negated by overtime costs, reserve officer pay and a potential strong-arm move by the Police Guild. “I included some strong language in there, but it’s pretty clear to me that we need four officers,” Marks said. Currently, Langley’s law enforcement is not compensated for on-call duty. While on-call, officers are expected to respond within 10 minutes, if needed, limiting where they SEE POLICE, A9
Bill may mean tax shift for farmers By REBECCA GOURLEY and JANIS REID South Whidbey Record Ron Newberry / The Record
Bell’s Farm on Central Whidbey is one of the island’s many farms that might experience a tax shift as a result of HB 2306.
A proposed change to a law aimed at preserving farmland and open space could result in higher taxes for some Washington property owners, including in Island County.
House Bill 2306 would expand a tax classification on land actively used for agriculture, timber production or undeveloped open space. While property tax is generally assessed on the market value of a parcel, the state’s Open Space Taxation Act allows land to be taxed at a lower rate based on its
current use, such as farming. Under the current law, if a farming operation is 20 acres or more, the parcels must be contiguous in order to be eligible for the lower tax classification. The bill proposes to take out the SEE FARMLAND, A9