Most of us visited to zoos when we were younger, and we remember the animals,

the fun, and the excitement. If you’re from the Tacoma area, the zoo you remember is

probably Point Defiance. We could all say it’s gone a little downhill over the years, along

with other Tacoma parks and facilities. We need to preserve what makes our community

as great as it is, which means buckling down and paying a little more in property taxes.

The Metro Park Bond is asking for $198 million for work and updates needed for

Tacoma’s parks and zoo. People from the Tacoma district who pay $40 per year for every

$100,000 in property value will have to pay an additional $58 on top of the $40. This is a

small price to pay for nice, up-to-date, clean parks.

The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s official website says that some of the

money from the bond will make critical improvement to animal life-support systems. The

money will also be used to replace the failing 51-year-old North Pacific Aquarium with a

modest new Pacific Rim aquarium. The changes planned will improve visitor experience

greatly.

Some people might ask why we should pay more taxes, especially when in 2005 a

bond was approved for $84.3 million. A bond that the people of Tacoma are still paying

off. It’s true they will still be paying the last bond off until 2030, and the new bond (if

accepted), will extend payments until 2042, however, this money is needed to improve

our community parks and zoo. It’s not cheap to renovate and make changes; the funds

from the first bond were only a start. There’s no point of having our pockets full of cash

if we can’t go out into our communities and enjoy our parks and zoo.

Tacoma parks will be greatly enhanced with the approval of this bond. When

Election Day comes up on Earth Day, April 22, think about the future of our community.

Be proud of where you live.