Yacolt resident Mark Rose says we are living through a convergence of crises, a ‘fiscal fracture’ where local tax policy, a collapsing insurance market, and state-level ideological experiments are crushing the working class

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

It usually starts with a letter from the mortgage servicer. It isn’t a bill for a purchase I made; it’s the dreaded “Escrow Shortage” notice. For thousands of us in Clark County, this letter is the harbinger of a financial crisis that is quietly dismantling the American Dream in Southwest Washington. My monthly payment jumped by nearly $400, not because I refinanced, but because the cost of merely existing in my own home has spiraled out of control.

We are living through a convergence of crises, a “fiscal fracture” where local tax policy, a collapsing insurance market, and state-level ideological experiments are crushing the working class.

The property tax shell game

If you listen to local officials, you’ll hear the comforting lie that property taxes are capped at a 1% increase per year. This is a myth. While the regular levy budget is capped, the system is riddled with loopholes like “banked capacity.” This allows districts to skip a tax hike one year, only to unleash it later without a public vote. In late 2024, the Clark County Council voted to use this banked capacity to cover structural deficits, bypassing the taxpayer’s ability to say “no.”¹

In Yacolt, the Town Council authorized a 1% increase, which sits atop a new EMS levy of approximately $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed value.² Meanwhile, the Battle Ground School District, after facing voter rejection twice in 2024, is returning for a third levy attempt in 2026.³ The government’s appetite for revenue is infinite, but our wallets are finite.

The insurance collapse

If taxes are the slow bleed, insurance is the tourniquet. In 2024, homeowners insurance premiums in Washington surged by over 21%, with auto insurance jumping more than 17%.⁴ In North Clark County, residents are receiving non-renewal notices en masse due to “wildfire risk scores,” forcing them onto the expensive state FAIR plan.⁵

This crisis was exacerbated by the State Insurance Commissioner’s crusade to ban Credit-Based Insurance Scores. By removing a key tool used to predict risk, the state forced insurers to raise rates on everyone, meaning responsible residents are now subsidizing high-risk drivers.⁶

The “hidden” taxes

While we struggle to pay these bills, Olympia seems intent on making life more expensive. The Climate Commitment Act (CCA) has functioned as a regressive tax, keeping Washington gas prices consistently higher than in Oregon.⁷ This “hidden gas tax” drives up the cost of everything from groceries to construction.

And where does this money go? We watch as the State Auditor uncovers fraud in state grant programs lacking internal controls.⁸ and allegations surface regarding pandemic relief funds being siphoned off by fraudsters.⁹

Three solutions

We cannot tax and spend our way out of this. We need a fundamental realignment:

1. Truth in Taxation: Implement a hard cap on annual assessed value increases for primary residences, similar to California’s Proposition 13.
2. Refund Public Safety: Auto insurance rates are skyrocketing because theft is rampant. We must end “catch and release” policies and fund the Sheriff’s Office to fill vacancies and expand jail capacity.¹⁰
3. Stabilize the Market: The Insurance Commissioner must abandon the ideological war on credit scoring to entice carriers back to Washington and lower premiums for safe drivers.

The citizens of Clark County are resilient, but we are not an endless resource. It is time for our elected officials to stop treating us as a revenue stream and start treating us as their employers.

References

1. Clark County Council. (2025). Clark County Council adopts 2026 budget. https://clark.wa.gov/councilors/clark-county-council-adopts-2026-budget
2. Town of Yacolt. (2024). Ordinance: 2025 EMS Excess Levy General Election. https://www.townofyacolt.com/ordinances/2025-ems-excess-levy-general-election
3. Battle Ground Public Schools. (2025). Educational programs and operations levy. https://www.battlegroundps.org/page/educational-levy
4. North Town Insurance. (2025). Washington Insurance Premiums Surge in 2025. https://www.northtowninsurance.com/washington-insurance-premiums-2025/
5. KING 5 News. (2024, August 9). Washington homeowners paying price for wildfires before they ignite. https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/coverage-crisis/washington-homeowners-paying-price-for-wildfires-before-ignite-coverage-crisis/281-a0b964ab-a643-440c-bd75-e914001634d0
6. Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. (2022). Kreidler adopts rule temporarily banning credit scoring. https://www.insurance.wa.gov/about-us/news/2022/kreidler-adopts-rule-temporarily-banning-credit-scoring-proposes-rule-increase-transparency
7. Washington Policy Center. (2025). WA Dept of Ecology Contradicts Previous Claims on Climate Tax. https://future42.org/washington-policy-center-wa-dept-of-ecology-contradicts-previous-claims-on-climate-tax/
8. Washington State Auditor. (2025, November 6). Fraud risks loom large for small governments in 2025. https://sao.wa.gov/the-audit-connection-blog/fraud-risks-loom-large-small-governments-2025
9. U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota. (2022, September 20). U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future
10. Clark County Sheriff’s Office. (2024). 2023 Annual Report. https://clark.wa.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/2024-10/2023-annual-report-final.pdf

Mark Rose
Yacolt

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