Income tax likely on fall ballot

OLYMPIA – A campaign to impose an income tax on the state’s wealthiest residents is likely headed to the November ballot.

Bill Gates Sr., father of the Microsoft Corp. co-founder, and about two dozen other supporters of Initiative 1098 turned in 350,000 petition signatures Thursday in Olympia, many more than the roughly 241,000 required to get on the ballot. The campaign says it will turn in an additional 20,000 today.

Gates said that it was time “to make our tax code fair for the middle class and small businesses.”

“I suspect the people of the state are going to agree with that,” he said.

The income tax would have two brackets. The first is 5 percent of any income above $200,000, or $400,000 for couples. The second bracket is 9 percent on the income above $500,000 for individuals or $1 million for couples.

The initiative also would cut the state property tax by 20 percent and increase the business and occupation tax credit to $4,800.

Washington is one of seven states without a personal income tax. Advocates said I-1098 would raise about $1 billion per year for education and health programs.

Mark Funk, a spokesman for the opposition campaign, said that the initiative is “the first step toward an income tax on everybody.”

“People want to see government reform and cost savings, not an income tax,” he said.