Spokane7
62°
October 18, 2009 in Opinion
I-1033 pro: Limiting government revenue growth, unless voters approve
Pro: Restore stability, taxpayer control to government’s fiscal roller coaster ride
Despite newspapers like The Spokesman-Review lobbying for and getting a massive taxpayer-financed bailout from Olympia this year, they don’t recognize that average taxpayers are hurting too.
And the worst thing government can do right now is raise taxes because that’ll just make the recession last longer. That’s why Gov. Chris Gregoire’s recent “revenue-raising” agenda makes Initiative 1033 especially necessary. I-1033 protects taxpayers and our struggling economy by making sure that state, county and city politicians cannot take more of our money unless voters approve. With I-1033, instead of constantly trying to maximize revenue – taking more of our money with higher taxes, increased fees or jacked-up property assessments – politicians will have to spend their time maximizing the effectiveness of existing revenue. And “more revenue” will only be a last resort and only with voter approval.
After getting I-1033’s automatic increase every year, if government thinks that I-1033’s increase isn’t a big enough increase, they can go to the people and ask for more.
Eight years ago, during tough economic times and just six weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Initiative 747 was on the ballot. It proposed a 1 percent cap on the growth of a lot of the revenue for the state, counties, cities, ports, fire districts, library districts, public utility districts and other local governments (it specifically excluded school districts). I-747 had a safety valve: If government wanted more than 1 percent, they could go to the voters and ask for more.
At the time, Big Business, Big Labor, politicians and the press went ballistic – they said it’d be “devastating” and “impossible.” A massive list of opponents said it was a bad time for fiscal discipline and predicted catastrophe and chaos.
Nonetheless, voters approved I-747 by a huge 58-42 percent margin. Since 2001, governments have adapted to the 1 percent limit.
It wasn’t “impossible” – it is now the new normal.
Governments have repeatedly proved that they’re much more flexible and adaptable than they’re willing to admit. Pre-election scare tactics never match up with post-election reality.
What’s being said about I-1033 is the same stuff that was said about I-747, but instead of a 1 percent automatic increase, I-1033 provides a much higher automatic increase: inflation-and-population growth. And I-1033 has the same safety valve: If government wants more than I-1033’s automatic increase, they can go to the voters and ask for an even bigger increase.
After voters approved I-601 in 1993, government lived under this same limit through 2005, growing at a stable, sustainable rate. But in 2005, that reasonable limit was repealed, leading to a four-year fiscal roller coaster, ending with a $9 billion deficit. I-1033 brings back I-601’s growth limit that worked effectively for 12 years.
Opponents want higher taxes and a state income tax. Opponents are against any limit on government’s power to take as much as they want from the taxpayers.
Property taxes keep going higher and higher and government keeps getting bigger and bigger. The people are losing control. I-1033 allows the state, counties and cities to grow, but at a rate that citizens can control and taxpayers can afford. I-1033 gets government off the fiscal roller coaster, allowing it to grow at a sustainable rate that doesn’t outpace taxpayers’ ability to afford it.
Remember, under I-1033, politicians can’t raise your taxes, increase fees or jack up property assessments – not without voter approval. Vote yes.
Don’t fudge fish standard 
megd71 on October 18 at 2:17 p.m.
Initiatives like I-1033 are the only was we the people have any hope of curbing out of control government spending. I’ve had people argue with me the it is insane to freeze spending during a recession….ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? If we don’t have money, THE GOVERNMENT DOESN”T HAVE MONEY. That is EXACTLY the point. Maybe it will force city, county and state officials to curb some of their pet-project spending and actually attribute tax dollars to the REAL business of running government.
VOTE YES ON I-1033.
Bob_Knows on October 18 at 7:12 p.m.
Limiting growth is a step in the right direction, but what we really need is a 50% CUT in the greedy politicians budgets. These corrupt villains need to be rolled back.
TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY!
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 9:13 p.m.
darto you are correct it takes a no brain to vote against 71.
When its good times the government bloats its stupid projects with lots of money wasting and the constituents jump with glee.
Well the government in good times needs to save that money for the rainy days like we are having now. The flucuation of feast/famine in government is whipsawying the citizens to death.
Government just like the rest of us, needs to learn how to live within its means. If it requires a chock collar on our spend thrifty politicians and bureaucrats.. MAKE IT SO. The first thing they should be cutting is their own salaries instead of voting themselves fat pay raises each year. and yes WE should be voting on those.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 18 at 9:13 p.m.
darto you are correct it takes a no brain to vote against 71.
When its good times the government bloats its stupid projects with lots of money wasting and the constituents jump with glee.
Well the government in good times needs to save that money for the rainy days like we are having now. The flucuation of feast/famine in government is whipsawying the citizens to death.
Government just like the rest of us, needs to learn how to live within its means. If it requires a chock collar on our spend thrifty politicians and bureaucrats.. MAKE IT SO. The first thing they should be cutting is their own salaries instead of voting themselves fat pay raises each year. and yes WE should be voting on those.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 18 at 9:14 p.m.
oh btw there darto.. are you like what jealous of the gay community to deny them the same rights you have?
SteveZemke on October 19 at 12:30 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. Some 35% of Washington households are renters according to the US Census Bureau
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. Are you ready to help pay the property taxes for Avista and Weyerhauser and Boeing and your local shopping mall and for your local real estate developer?
Help lower income taxpayers pay property taxes by expanding the current senior and disabled property tax exemption if they need help. But why would you want to pay property taxes for someone’s vacation property or Kemper Freeman’s Bellevue Square?. Freeman gave $25,000 to get I-1033 on the ballot.He would save $1.7 million in real estate taxes each year if I-1033 passes.
Vote No on this wealth transfer scheme. It is amazing to me that people who are concerned about being overtaxed would even consider voting for I-1033 and make things even worse for themselves taxwise.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 19 at 4:03 p.m.
Zemke is using reverse logic. Keeping the goverment scoundrals fomr continuing to pick our pockets for their own silly programs is what its all aboutl.
Its about putting that big greedy mouth of unleashed government taxation on a strict as need be diet.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
libmark on October 19 at 4:57 p.m.
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.
Vote no on 1033.
Bob_Knows on October 21 at 6:03 p.m.
Steve Zemke whined, “I-1033 is a wealth transfer scheme”
Yep. 1033 will transfer wealth away from corrupt politicians into the pockets of everyone who owns a home and has a vested interest in the community. We are Taxed Enough Already!
SteveZemke on October 24 at 1:07 p.m.
Initiative 1033 is a wealth transfer scheme, taking tax dollars paid by those without property and using it to pay real estate taxes for those that do. What kind of lunacy is that?
Lower income folks usually can’t afford property and rent. In fact the US Census Bureau says some 35% of households in the state are not owner occupied. Well renters under I-1033 don’t get any tax break or rebate.
Renters will still pay the same sales taxes and other fees as before under I-1033. Last year some 54% of state revenue came from sales taxes. Only 12% came from property taxes.
I-1033 is a reverse Robin Hood wealth transfer scheme, taking tax dollars paid by everyone and only using it to pay taxes for property owners. The tax rebate is not proportional to the sales taxes you pay but to the amount of property you own.
The big winners under I-1033 - large property owners and businesses. Some one third of the rebate goes to pay commercial real estate taxes.
The big losers - renters and others who don’t own real estate.
Keep Tim Eyman out of your pockets. Vote No on I-1033.