October 6, 2009 in City

Initiative has social service agencies worried

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Nonprofit agencies that work on housing and children’s issues are putting out a call for volunteers to work against a Washington initiative to limit government spending.

Recent polls show Initiative 1033 with a comfortable lead, and that has groups concerned about a loss of grant funding for programs, said Mary Ann Murphy, executive director of Partners with Families and Children: Spokane, who forwarded the request for help with a phone bank. “I did get alarmed that perhaps people didn’t know all the implications of how this will play out.”

The sponsor of the initiative questioned whether the agencies should be campaigning for or against any ballot measure, but doubted they’d have much impact.

“If we thought it was going to be really effective, we’d be more upset,” Tim Eyman said.

The initiative proposes limits on the amount of revenue the state, cities and counties can spend from their general funds, and would require property tax reductions if they collected more than an amount tied to inflation and population growth.

The state’s Office of Financial Management projects that state, city and county revenues would grow much slower under I-1033 than they would under current law.

Based on estimates of inflation and population growth between now and 2015, the state’s fiscal office projects the state would have almost $6 billion less to spend over the next five years, while cities would have $2 billion less and counties $694 million less. But the OFM also notes that all three will see more money over that period; for example, the state general fund, which covers education, health and social services and most other state programs, would grow between $400 million and $500 million a year through 2015, rather than an estimated $800 million to $1 billion per year.

Michael Kelly of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, which put out the call for volunteers, said restrictions on the general-fund spending could lead to reductions in programs that tackle homelessness, hunger and housing shortages.

Murphy said the state may have already cut mandated services like schools and corrections as much as possible, so health and social services may bear a larger share of any cuts from 1033.

“I don’t feel shy or reticent about thinking those are good things the state does. I feel good about services for health and children,” she said.

Eyman argues, however, that the best way to fight homelessness or expand low-income housing is to make homes more affordable, and one way to do that is to lower property taxes, which I-1033 would do if revenue grows faster than the limit it sets up.

“How do we help the poor? Stop taxing them into poverty might be a good start,” Eyman said.

Rachel Myers, executive director of the housing coalition, agreed the state needs to examine its high property taxes, as well as its high sales tax rate, but not in an initiative campaign. “I don’t think this is the way to address the disproportionate impact of taxes on the poor.”

A recent poll commissioned by the pro-initiative campaign showed the proposal had a significant majority among voters surveyed in late September; about twice as many said they’d vote yes as vote no. That was one reason opponents said they needed volunteers “to tell people the truth about this initiative.”

But efforts by government officials to counter the initiative are probably a reason it’s doing well in the polls, and work by the nonprofits could have the same effect, Eyman said.

11 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  TimEyman on October 06 at 3:03 p.m.

  Here’s the polling results:

  RE: Poll by Rasmussen Reports on I-1033: 61% yes, 31% no, 8% undecided (remember, those undecided’s gotta go somewhere)

  It’s clear that voters are rejecting the multi-million-dollar, Washington-DC-funded “con” campaign by opponents of I-1033 — the initiative leads by 30 points with just a few weeks left to go. The poll by Rasmussen Reports, taken on September 22nd, shows support at 61% yes, 31% no, 8% undecided. Here’s what 500 likely voters were asked:

  A statewide initiative will be on the ballot this November. We’d like to ask if you support it or not:
  
  The initiative concerns state, county and city revenue. Here is the ballot title: This measure would limit growth of certain state, county and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth, not including voter-approved revenue increases. Revenue collected above the limit would reduce property tax levies. Do you definitely favor, probably favor, probably oppose, or definitely oppose this initiative?

  21% Definitely favor
  40% Probably favor
  17% Probably oppose
  14% Definitely oppose
  8% Not sure

  NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/ 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

  Just to show how accurate Rasmussen is with their polling, their results on Initiative 960 two years ago perfectly predicted the measure’s election outcome (51%-49%). Here’s the results of their September 26, 2007 poll among 500 likely voters: 51% yes, 39% no, 9% not sure (18% definitely favor, 33% probably favor, 22% probably oppose, 17% definitely oppose). Despite opponents spending $1.3 million over the subsequent weeks saying I-960 was ‘just like Colorado’s TABOR’, the numbers didn’t move an inch. With I-1033 starting 10 points higher (61% versus 51%), we’re feeling really good about I-1033’s prospects with voters in November.

  It’s clear that voters are savvy enough to see through opponents’ threats, lies, and scare tactics on I-1033. Voters are clearly rejecting their “con” campaign and strongly supporting I-1033’s policies of fiscal discipline and property tax relief. Voters understand that the private sector, not the public sector, creates the jobs that will drive Washington’s economic recovery. Voters know that anything but an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote for I-1033 will be seen by politicians as the people’s endorsement of higher taxes. Voters realize that I-1033 is their only opportunity for a break on their crushing property tax burden. Opponents certainly have the best “con” campaign money can buy but apparently, voters aren’t buyin’ it.

  We have faith in the common sense of the average taxpayer to see through opponents’ threats, lies and scare tactics.

  I-1033 is, by far, our most needed and most popular initiative to date. I-1033 brings back I-601’s fiscal discipline, gets government off the fiscal roller coaster by allowing sustainable growth, maintains I-601’s safety valve allowing faster government growth with voter approval, and provides a long-overdue reduction in our state’s crushing property tax burden.

  Most persuasive of all: our opponents have no alternative. No alternative way to lower property taxes, no alternative way to get government off the fiscal roller coaster, no alternative way to stop politicians from unilaterally increasing taxes and fees which would only hurt our economy and extend the recession. All of the opponents of I-1033 want higher taxes. They all want a state income tax. I-1033’s opponents think that Washington’s citizens are UNDERTAXED?!!? Opponents are against I-1033 because it lets the people, and not the politicians, decide how fast government will grow and how big a tax burden we can afford.

• 

  SteveZemke on October 06 at 3:37 p.m.

  Initiative 1033 isn’t going to help people get into a home. Eyman is not telling the public what the true impacts of I-1033 will be.

  Initiative 1033 doesn’t change the sales taxes and other fees low income people now pay. If you’re on fixed income, a senior or struggling working family I-1033 takes your sales tax dollars and is going to use them to help people that already have property.

  People who don’t own property won’t get tax rebates. They just lose out. The US Census Bureau says that some 35% of households in Washington State are not owner occupied.

  What a joke I-1033 is and what a lie Eyman is foisting on the unsuspecting public. Rebates under I-1033 are not dependent on the amount of sales taxes you pay but on the amount of property you own. So those without property will be helping to pay taxes for people who own McMansions and second homes and vacation homes.

  Also the rebate under the Washington Constitution has to also go to help commercial property owners pay their property taxes. Commercial real estate represents some one third of property.
  So get ready to see your tax dollars help pay taxes for real estate developers and shopping malls and corporations. What a deal.

  Eyman says this is more important than educating our children or fixing our roads and bridges or keeping parks and libraries open or hiring more police or fire protection and everything else government does.

  I-1033 is a bad deal for Washington State and its taxpayers. Vote No.

• 

  SteveZemke on October 06 at 3:43 p.m.

  The Gates Commission Study on Tax Alternatives came to a very different conclusion than Tim does on property taxes as they affect affrodability of homes. They stated:

  “Property tax does not play a large role in the affordability of homes. Affordability index analysis shows that in all but three counties, Kittitas, San Juan and Jefferson,median income households could afford homes more expensive than the median priced homes. Removing property taxes from costs in the affordability index did not change the results. This implies that principal and interest on a mortgage have a much greater effect on the ability of a household to afford a home.”

  You can check out their conclusions in the report yourself at
  http://dor.wa.gov/Content/AboutUs/StatisticsAndReports/WAtaxstudy/Chapter_4.pdf

• 

  SteveZemke on October 06 at 3:46 p.m.

  Here are three reasons why to vote NO on I-1033:

  INITIATIVE 1033 FREEZES STATE AND LOCAL SPENDING AT THE CURRENT LEVEL. It says that none of the cuts made in public services as a result of the current recession can be restored without a public vote. Public votes take time, cost money and allow politics and special interest money to influence the outcome.

  INITIATIVE 1033 IS A RADICAL SHIFT AWAY FROM REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. It would take away the current power of our elected public representatives to make budget decisions and turns the process over to budgeting by referendum. It does this not just at the state level but also for all 39 counties and all 281 cities in our state. It is a blatant attempt to undercut efficient and deliberative government by Tim Eyman whose goal is to shrink the powers of representative government.

  INITIATIVE 1033 IS A COMPLEX WEALTH TRANSFER SCHEME. It would transfer sales tax dollars collected from everyone and use them to only pay property taxes for property owners. The problem is that not everyone owns property. This scheme increases the unfairness of our tax system. Renters will pay the same taxes as before under I-1033 but will both get no tax rebate and see no increased public services for their tax dollars.

  I-1033 is special interest legislation designed to hamstring government from operating efficiently. It is a complex wealth transfer scheme that benefits rich property owners. And it is not needed.

  There is no fiscal crisis demanding radical change of this nature. Initiative 1033 is a scheme dreamed up by anti-government, anti-tax fanatic Tim Eyman and deserves a resounding NO vote this November. We don’t need to make our current recession permanent.

• 

  ericdx on October 06 at 6:10 p.m.

  I have no idea who this Steve Zemke guy is, but I am assuming he is some shill for the tax and spend government (and Queen Christine) and I will be the first one to say that there are times where “Initiative Tim” seems to have a few screws loose.

  That being said, the problem here is not the Initiative, which may be good or bad. Both sides trot out statistice, but the fact is, you can take statistics and make them say whatever the heck you want them to, if you know how to spin the story. That is why they have the old saying “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.”

  The problem is, our elected idiots are in the pocket of their special interests. The legislature does not listen to the people, and too many of the sheeple out there just fill in a box with an R or a D, and dont look at the person that is next to that letter. Too many people vote a party line, and don’t think. Maybe if the sheeple started actually using their vote as a tool for removing bad legislatures, and enforcing the will of the people, then “Initiative Tim” would be irrelevent.

  It is the Legislature that is out of control. Since they have shown time and time again that they will not follow the will of the people, the only other tool the people have is the initiative process. The initiative process has a good purpose, but when the legilature and its cast of clowns abuse their power, they leave the way open for a motivated person, who has the gumption to go out and do something, to use (and sometimes abuse) the initiative system.

  People compain about “Initiative Tim” Some feel he is the worst thing to ever happen to Washington. I do not like some of the things he does, but he, or someone like him, is necessary to the system, because out elected idiots are screwing us daily, because they do not listen, and know there are enough idiots out there that will just listen to the hype, and not study the issues, or their flaws, and rein them in.

  You want to stop “Initiative Tim?” Start by cleaning out the rot in Olympia. Fix those idiots, send them a real message, clean house and get people from outside the confines of the “Established Government” and soon, “Initiative Tim” and shills for the government, trying to defend their waste, go away.

• 

  Sarajane46th on October 06 at 6:39 p.m.

  The story quotes 1033 author Tim Eyman as trying to intimidate those who oppose his government-squelching initiative:

  “The sponsor of the initiative questioned whether the agencies should be campaigning for or against any ballot measure, but doubted they’d have much impact. “If we thought it was going to be really effective, we’d be more upset,” Tim Eyman said.”

  The truth is, non-profits are allowed and even encouraged to educate the public about the effects of issues in the public forum. That’s part of their mission and Tim Eyman knows this. It’s not the first time he’s lied.

  Each of us could make our own list of government services that have been cut and will be cut more in this very bad economy. If 1033 passes, we will never have adequate funding for schools, libraries, fire and police, public health, clean air and water or mental health treatment.

  I-1033 requires a public vote to raise any tax or fee. It doesn’t say who will pay for the ballot or the cost to educate the public on it. Trying to make budgets this way is like trying to do surgery with a jack hammer. Let’s let our elected officials do their jobs.

• 

  Sarajane46th on October 06 at 6:43 p.m.

  @ Eric, it’s not Steve Zemke who’s a shill. He isn’t on anybody’s payroll. But you should know that Tim Eyman makes his living from running initiatives. A major funder of this one is Kemper Freeman, the owner of Bellevue Square. Why? Because 40% of property tax owners are commercial property owners, and he’d profit handsomely.

  Renters will get nothing. I’ve never seen landlords lower rents because they got a break in property taxes.

  There is no relation between providing affordable housing for low-income renters and lowering property taxes for homeowners. None.

• 

  ericdx on October 06 at 9:24 p.m.

  @ Sara

  And you are missing the point of my comment. I know that “Initiative Tim” has a bankroll behind him, and that is why he can (ab)use the initiative system.

  The initiative was not meant for someone to be able to tunr running initiatives as a career, but the elected idiots are the reason that “Initiative Tim” does not go away.

  The elected idiots do not harken to the public that elects them, so their only way to fight back is through initiatives. Unfortunately “Initiative Tim” is filling a need (even thoug he himself is nothing but a shill for special interests also), even if there are many times that he is just making things harder,

  Since the Idiots in Olyimpia are out of control, so “Initiative Tim” and his handlers come up with catchy little things to try and slow, or appear to try to slow, the out of control legislature. “Initiative Tim” is a side effect, not the main problem.

  As far as whether or not Steve Zemke is on someone’s payroll, I would say that since he is in support of NOT limiting the spending of our out of control government, then he is a direct benefit of that spending in some way, shape or form, and that, to me, makes him a shill for the tax and spend government.

  The last 2 years have been an economic challenge, yet in the last 4 years, our wonderous idiot legislature, and Queen Christine have managed to run us into a huge deficit. And before anyone says it is all the Republican’s Faount, just remember that the last Republican governor in this state was well before the year 2000, and the legislature has either been a 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans, or a Democrat majority.

  I have had to tighten my belt, just like everyone else has, but our government has not been doing the same thing, and has been trying to find ways to get MORE of our money, and SPEND in higher amounts for their pet projects. Unlike you and I, they can keep dipping in to our wallets. I have no doubt that “Initiative Tim” lies, or that his initiatives are not always well thought out, but Queen Chirstine and the Idiots in Olympia lie all the time, too, and if you look at many of “Initiative Tim’s” projects have been after the legislature failed to deal with the same issue (starting with I-695)

  I have been a lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, and even though I was gone for 20 years due to having served in the military, I was proud to call Washington my home. Then the legislature fumbled the ball way back in the 1990’s with the vehicle taxes, I supported I-695, and gave serious thought to changing my state of residence, because I was tired of the insane vehicle tax rates. Yes, I-695 has had a bad side to it, but it also showed that for 30 years before I-695, out legislatures and Governors were lying about how the vehicle taxes were used (why else was the state discussing across the board cuts when the tax that was supposed to be FOR ROADS ONLY was cut by I-695???) Yes, I-695 was challenged in court, and eventually tossed, but the public got its way too, because vehicle tabs for a new car today, are less the 25% of what I would have had to pay for a 5 year old car in 1999, instead of one of the 4 highest vehicle tax rates in the nation, like they were in 1999 (I know this, because I would have paid about the same to license my truck in California if I had been a California resident as I would of to license it in Washington as a Washington resident in 1999). The legislature got the message.

  Maybe I-1033 is bad the way it is written (and it probably is), but the concept behind it is not only sound, but necessary. Out elected idiots need to get their hands smacked back, and need to realize that they can not keep dipping into our pockets every time the get a wild hair, or a new pet project. I am not anit-tax, I am anti-waste of my tax money, and right now, our idiots in Olympia waste so much money that they do not deserve to keep being able to get more.

• 

  2cents on October 06 at 9:56 p.m.

  @ericdx

  The only politician you mention is the Governor. Frankly whenever I have had a concern my legislators responded quickly. Maybe they didn’t give me the answer I hoped for, but they do care about the citizens.

  The MVET tax always was explained as going to the general fund. Only the gas tax in this state is constitutionally separate from the general fund.

  Frankly the Republican party has abandoned the citizens of Washington. I remember many who were fiscally conservative, but socially liberal. Now the Republican party requires all members to follow a Stepford wife litmus test and all Senator Zarelli can do is say, “I told you so.”

  I-1033 is not a subsitute for an opposition party. I-1033 slashs without debate or thought. If you truly want a fiscally responsible Olympia vote and support fiscally responsible candidates.

• 

  SteveZemke on October 07 at 3:52 p.m.

  Initiative1033 freezes public services. Just figure it out yourself. If you use this years spending as the baseline and adjust for inflation all that allows you to do is buy this year’s services next year at next year’s inflated price. Government is not growing, it flat lining.

  And any adjustment for population doesn’t increase individual services; it only means you have more people needing service.

  The intent of I-1033 is to decrease services, not allow for growth. The implicit price deflator index Eyman uses in I-1033 does not track cost of government services; it tracks consumer prices for consumer goods nationally. It’s not even focused on NW costs which can vary from national figures.

  Initiative 1033 is not an answer to anything unless your question is how to continue decreasing the effectiveness of government providing public services.

  Instead the questions should be are we providing the public services needed at a reasonable cost. Not providing senior care to help keep seniors in their homes increases public costs because nursing homes cost more than home health care. Not providing mental health services costs more as people wind up in jail rather than getting treatment. Not educating our kids means others with a better education will get the jobs requiring a college degree.

  Initiative 1033 prevents restoring lost services without a public vote which costs money and introduces California style voting on budgets by referendum. Initiative 1033 prevents investing any added revenue from sales taxes as the economy improves to support education or health care without a public vote.

  Initiative 1033 creates lots of new problems. It’s not needed. Vote No on 1033.

• 

  RoadRunner4 on October 21 at 11:26 p.m.

  Eric‏dx - the holidays will be HELL for you