To the editor:

Dave Anderson wrote in his letter to the editor promoting an increase in property taxes:

“I was surprised to see that our current 59 cents per $1,000 for county services is at the BOTTOM statewide, and that even with a 16-cent increase, we will still be near the bottom.”

I wondered, if Island County is on the bottom, then what county is on the top?

I found that Franklin County had the highest average property tax rate/$1,000 of assessed value at 13.35 percent versus Island County at 6.86 percent.

But look at the total property tax collected, Franklin collected $53,526,058, while Island County collected nearly twice as much, at $95,077,624.

So with almost the same population base (Franklin, 77,3335 and Island County, 81,054) Island County collected $1,173 per person verses Franklin County’s $692.

I collected these facts from state and federal Web sites. I’ll let you draw your own conclusion.

B.E. Robertson

Clinton