Spokane7
42°
October 18, 2009 in Opinion
I-1033 con: One-size formula doesn’t fit all; voters already hold leaders accountable
To officials struggling to maintain essential public services, Tim Eyman’s latest initiative brings a sinking feeling.
Initiative 1033 would limit state, county and city government revenues to a formula of inflation and population growth.
The insidious appeal hides peril: As we endure the deepest recession since 1929, I-1033 would pull both government and private sectors deeper into the mire.
Business leaders, statewide and in Spokane, are concerned about I-1033 trapping us in recession, with impacts on community priorities like public safety, transportation and economic development.
The nonpartisan Office of Financial Management calculates that over the next five years, I-1033 would reduce city and county revenues for local needs by $2.8 billion, and state revenues for education, health, environmental and other services by $5.9 billion.
I-1033 mirrors Colorado’s “Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” which caused so much damage to Colorado’s public schools, roads and economy that voters suspended it in 2005.
I-1033 would force every Washington community into a one-size formula, taking away local control to prioritize our community’s needs.
Governments across Washington behaved prudently during better times and put extra revenues into reserves. In Spokane County, those savings have provided: care for citizens’ basic needs while medical costs skyrocketed; snow removal during two sequential extraordinary winters; and steady services while gasoline spiked to $4 a gallon. Under I-1033, government “rainy day” accounts would vanish and there would be no reserves to support us in tough times.
Where would revenues go instead? Individual property owners would receive property tax rebates of $20-$50 per year. But services that benefit all property owners, businesses and citizens – such as law enforcement, fire response, street repairs, building permits – would disappear into a quagmire of unfunded priorities.
Voters could approve revenues on a piecemeal basis, but I-1033 ignores the costs of putting items on the ballot (approximately $300,000 per election item; extra for a voter pamphlet). Businesses and residents would be required to track dozens of separately voted special taxes.
Voters already authorize basic revenue tools and hold elected officials accountable to spend appropriately. Across the political spectrum, Spokane-area elected officials dislike this initiative’s dictates that remove local choice.
In the Spokane area, public school coffers are at bare bones, stifling efforts to develop our work force for business prosperity. Public health budgets are already devastated by previous Eyman initiatives. Spokane-area governments get by with half the revenue of comparable areas, striving to deliver first-class public services on economy budgets. Under I-1033, citizens will be forced to accept lower service levels because public agency budgets are at the breaking point.
Measures similar to I-1033 were introduced in 28 states. In the only state that adopted the idea, it failed miserably. See how Colorado’s children and businesses suffered – as we could expect for Washington – at no1033.org.
I-1033 might look like an oasis, but it’s only a mirage. I-1033 will sink us all. Vote no on I-1033.
A hypocrite by necessity 
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Bob_Knows on October 18 at 7:03 p.m.
What part of TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY don’t you corrupt politicians get?
The biggest problem with 1033 is that it doesn’t CUT the current budgets.
Its time to get your evil money grubbing hands out of OUR pockets.
darto55 on October 18 at 7:34 p.m.
WELL THIS IS A NO-BRAINER.
Initiative 1033 = YES
Referendum 71 = REJECTED
Rifleman__Dodd on October 18 at 9:21 p.m.
Well Ms. Verner, the one who rode into office on the backs of the little people.. now wants to tax the same to support the overpaid, incompetent city employees with their vacation, sick leave, insurance and fat retirement programs. Why do we have people working in the City government whom do not have college degrees, making $100K a year. Why do we have officers like Thompson making $80K a year after ten years on the force, and on paid time awaiting trial for murder? The first place the Mayor should be looking at is cutting the fat in city hall, the SPD and the Fire Department.
You can see where this is going. She’ll be another single term Mayor. I dont see much difference between one mayor screwing boys and another mayor screwing over everyone else. Jim West might have had his hands on one thing, but he sure had his hands on the purse strings. Where is Mayor Verners hands?
SteveZemke on October 19 at 12:32 p.m.
I-1033 is a wealth transfer scheme. It takes tax dollars paid by everyone and uses them to only pay property taxes for property owners. But not everyone owns property.
Initiative 1033 is a giant tax shift that hurts lower income citizens and mainly benefits those with lots of property.
Danny Westneat’s article in the Seattle Times says it all with his headline “I-1033 A Windfall for the Rich”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2010058262_danny14.html
As Westneat says, Eyman
“…could have targeted his tax relief to help those who most need it. But he didn’t. This is the rotten core of his initiative.
Forget all the caterwauling about spending cuts. At its heart this is a massive giveaway to the rich that does little or nothing for the poor.”
A vote for I-1033 will help millionaires and corporations pay their property taxes at your expense. Vote No.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 19 at 4:05 p.m.
Zemke posted the same blatherwick on the other argument page. Obviously ONE dimensional.
libmark on October 19 at 5:05 p.m.
As I just posted over on the “Pro 1033” page:
Public records are an amazing thing. While searching for something else entirely on Washington Secretary of State’s Corporations Registration web page, I found the home address of Tim Eyman in Mukilteo.
Curiosity got the better of me.
Using Google Maps, I typed in the address and learned that Mr. Eyman lives on a golf course overlooking the Puget Sound. Using Zillow.com, I learned that his 3,020 square foot, three bedroom, three bath house is estimated to be worth $720,000. This price tag makes Eyman’s home worth more than 95% of all Washington homes.
So the question I have is this, Mr. Eyman: Who stands to benefit the most if the initiative passes? You or the remaining 95% of Washington households?
Mr. Eyman, you’ve got a Palin wardrobe problem here; the “I’m helping the Average Joe ‘cause I’m one too” persona doesn’t match up with the country club reality.
SteveZemke on October 19 at 5:10 p.m.
Yes I did post this elsewhere. The argument is the same. I-1033 is a wealth transfer scheme. You believe Eyman at your peril. Unless you are a wealthy property owner, your tax burden will increase relative to those with lots of property.
Also one third of the tax rebate proposed under I-1033 goes to commercial real estate. The rebate to residential property is not based on your need or income or what you paid in sales taxes; only on what you own.
If you own no property, or are a senior or working family with no property, you lose twice. You both get no rebate and pay the same taxes as before. And you also see no services like health care or public transit or police protection above the present recession level because your tax dollars above Eyman’s recession level budget all go to pay property taxes.
If you don’t mind giving Kemper Freeman, who owns Bellevue Square, a $1.7 million dollar/year property tax break by all means vote for I-1033.
If you don’t mind paying property taxes for someone else vacation property or McMansion or investment properties sure vote for I-1033.
Understand what I-1033 does before you vote because you may regret the result later when you find out that paying property taxes for millionaires makes our whole tax system more regressive and shifts the tax burden onto lower income taxpayers.