There are two sides to the property tax coin ...
Because
our state does not have an income tax, we rely heavily on the sales tax,
business and occupations (B&O) tax and property taxes to pay for the
critical services we all rely on.
Washington State property taxes are regressive and unfair. The most
recent analysis shows that the poorest 20% of households pay 6% of their
income in property taxes. In contrast, the top 1% of wage earners pay
less than 3% of their income in property taxes.
Changes
to property taxes should move us toward a system that is fairer. In 2001
voters approved Initiative I-747, which instituted a 1% annual cap on state
and local property tax levies.
It did
nothing to correct the inequity in the property tax system. What it
did do was make it much more difficult to adequately fund services that
the public overwhelmingly supports — such as fire, EMS, hospitals, roads,
libraries and more.
Now, the State Supreme
Court has overturned I-747. In the wake of that decision, some
politicians and political pudits are calling for a rush to re-instate the 1%
cap.
There's even been talk of
rushing to a special session. Good policy is
seldom - if ever - made in such haste.
Send an email to your reps in
Olympia
and the Governor -- urge them not to act hastily to enshrine a failed property tax policy!
Asking
people if they would like to pay less is only half the question – no one has
asked if they would ALSO like to have fewer firehouses, longer EMS response
times, more classroom crowding in public schools, stripped down libraries
that are seldom open, jammed emergency rooms, fewer park and recreation
services and roads full of potholes.
That’s
the ultimate promise of I-747.
Instead of rushing to reinstate it,
policymakers need to
take the
time to properly deliberate on the effects of I-747. Property taxes – and
indeed the tax system as a whole in our state – are like a balloon.
Anywhere you squeeze can cause unexpected effects somewhere else.
There are
creative
proposals such a circuit-breaker proposal (read
the report from the Washington State Budget & Policy Center) that could target reductions and make the property tax fairer.
Our Coalition wants to work with the Legislature to finding solutions that
make our tax system fairer and provide sufficient resources to
adequately fund the vital public services we all rely on. Rushing
to reinstate I-747 fails on
both counts.
So please
...
send
an email
to your reps in Olympia and urge them not to act in haste to enshrine a failed property tax policy!
