To the editor:

Why the lawsuit? Here are some facts.

Who pays? Residents in the “assessed” area of Diking District No. 1 who own lots less than an acre in size are taxed on Island County’s valuation of their property. Properties greater than an acre in size have arbitrarily been assigned a valuation of $1,100 per acre.

Therefore, if someone owned all 460 acres of the agricultural/wetlands, their total assessed value would be $506,000. The valuation of all property in the assessment area is about $90,000,000. Consequently, the owners of the smaller lots will pay 99.4 percent of the costs of the pump project.

Who benefits? The small lots in the district are essentially at elevations 8 feet or higher with minimal risk of flooding. The large lots are predominantly at elevations between 3 and 6 feet above sea level.

Historically, the water level rises to about 4 feet each winter. This is why most of the low land periodically floods and is classified as wetlands. With pumping this past year, the water level was maintained at an elevation of 1-2 feet. This drainage/dewatering of the wetlands benefits the owners of the lowland and does not benefit the owners of small lots at higher elevation.

I own a beachfront and back lot that combined are 0.5 acres, with a valuation of $1,686,000. Therefore, I will be paying on a per-acre valuation of $3,372,000 — a rate 3,065 times greater than what is being paid by owners of lowland, Ray Gabelein, Steve Arnold, Bob Kohlwes, and Useless Bay Golf Club, who signed for the pump project.

The assessment rate is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value annually for five years.

Total cost to Shepard will be $8,438 on 0.5 acres, Arnold $36 on seven acres and Gabelein $382 on 69 acres. Is this fair?

John Shepard

Clinton