To the Editor: I understand that District V Supervisor Brooke Laine cannot come out publicly and give her opinion on Measure S without the other supervisors voting on the measure, I am in disagreement with Laine’s comments made in her recent column.

She laid out the proponents’ intended allocations from the collected taxes should Measure S pass: 50% to Marshall Hospital, 45% to West Slope Fire Departments and 5% to West Slope Non-Profits. However, by simply parroting these talking points, she fails to dig into the fine details of the actual initiative pamphlet and how it unfairly treats the Tahoe Basin, which she supposedly represents.

First, Marshall Hospital is in Placerville-roughly 75 miles away. Not a single cent of that 50% allocation will support medical services at Barton Hospital, which serves our local community residents. Furthermore, the West Slope heavily dominates the remaining funds. The El Dorado Hills Fire Department and El Dorado County Fire Protection District on the West Slope swallow up a massive chunk of the revenue. Most of the Fire Department funding will remain on the West Slope, leaving very little, if any, for the Tahoe Basin Fire Services. To make matters worse, virtually none of the 5% designated for non-profits will see its way to organizations operating within The Tahoe Basin to help the residents she represents.

Supervisor Laine laid out what the proponents claim the money will go to, and ignored these vital disparities that affect us in The Tahoe Basin. There is the legal reality of the initiative itself. The 9.125% sales tax we’d have with the passing of Measure S will leave our city with nearly no financial breathing room – leaving only a tiny fraction of 0.125% margin before hitting the state cap. If Measure S passes, it will severely limit our capacity to pass local sales tax measures for future emergency items, critical infrastructure, street maintenance, Police and Fire.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted not to support Measure S, and I wish Tahoe Basin Supervisor Laine could join them, along with most, if not all, Tahoe residents and businesses, in sounding the alarm on this unfair siphon of local capital.

I urge everyone to look closely at the fine print of Measure S before casting their NO vote on Measure S. 

Major (ret) Kenneth J. Curtzwiler