We weren’t critical of voters last year when they killed a levy that would have raised $16 million to build a family recreation center at South Kitsap Community Park. We recognized that the project, as desirable as it might be, wasn’t a matter of life and death, and we respected the voters’ wishes.

Likewise, we’ll leave to the wisdom of the voters this year’s question of whether or not to approve the Public Facilities District’s request for a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase to fund construction and improvement of sports and athletic facilities throughout Kitsap County. After all, you know your budget better than we do, and it seems a bit presumptuous of us to encourage you to pay for something you don’t think you can afford.

But just so you know, one-tenth of 1 percent translates into one penny for every $10 purchase — an amount most of us wouldn’t bend over to pick up if we saw it lying on the pavement. And since it’s a sales tax, the biggest percentage of the burden will be assumed by those who make the biggest purchases — and are, therefore, most able to afford it.

Best of all, for that money, South Kitsap could receive just over $4 million in benefits, including badly needed upgrades to the South Kitsap High School football stadium and the construction of running tracks at Marcus Whitman and John Sedgwick Junior High Schools — to name a few.

Again, it’s your money...and your community. If you think you can spare a penny here and there, this sounds like a good place to invest it.

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