Jerry Cornfield has an interesting take on how Democrats are actually keeping the property tax issue in play for next year, in large part with their odd and easy-to-attack "deferral" plan that hits lower-income taxpayers with interest on their property taxes in addition to eventually having to pay the original bill.
Posted by Eric Earling at December 02, 2007 09:29 PM | Email ThisLots of fluff, no tax relief.
Except of course it was real fun to watch them defer with interest the property taxes of the least able to pay. That was Priceless!
Posted by: GS on December 2, 2007 10:45 PMThe fact that the chickens come home to roost years after the temporary political gain of the current legislation is another invitation for legislative profligacy. That 'deferral' business will cause more harm than good, and unfortunately the government will reap the profit, not the poor schmuck who's been 'saved' by the deferral. Or the heirs of said schmuck. Hmmm, that would suit the elder Gates who thinks that heirs should be plundered in all cases...
Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on December 3, 2007 08:58 AMWhat the hell, in 12 months it will be Rossi's problem anyway!
Posted by: Andy on December 3, 2007 09:25 AMWhat the hell, in 12 months it will be Rossi's problem anyway!
Posted by: Andy on December 3, 2007 09:26 AMWhat the hell, in 12 months it will be Rossi's problem anyway!
Posted by: Andy on December 3, 2007 09:27 AMWhat the hell, in 12 months it will be Rossi's problem anyway!
Posted by: Andy on December 3, 2007 09:27 AMA 2% annual increase in the 'new construction' increase to Assessed Value (AV) and a 1% I-747 property tax lid covers the Implicit Price Deflator inflation rate for every year since 1991.
Saw stat the other day that 'statewide' property tax revenues have risen at 5% per year (compounded of course) since I-747 passed. Some was voted excess but most was through the new construction additions to the AV base.
Posted by: Gary in Olympia on December 3, 2007 11:01 AM"Democrats' willingness to talk taxes will provide Republicans with many opportunities in which to paint their differences with the majority party.
"Republicans' mouths are watering."
Yeah, sure. The "deeper discussion" is going to head toward the implementation of a "progressive income tax." The GOP's inability to grasp the way the property tax system works will play into the hands of the Democrats by leading many people to believe that the income tax is their only possible "relief" from higher taxes.
The only reason we don't already have a state income tax is that citizens do not trust the government's promise to reduce property and sales taxes upon implementation of an income tax. Anyone with a brain (does that include Democrats?) knows any sales and property tax "relief" would be short lived. Olympia already has enough ways to rob us without an income tax.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 3, 2007 12:09 PMThis does about as much for low-income people as lottery tickets and higher cigarette taxes do.
The idea that income tax aversion is limited only to Republicans (as stated above) is nonsense.
I think the planets are lining up for Rossi.
Posted by: brent boger on December 3, 2007 12:29 PM"Once a family's income rises above the median level, they would no longer be eligible for a continued tax deferral, and it is possible that all the back taxes accrued over the years would become due."
I await the clarification of that point now that there is a 'real bill' beyond the press releases they had to work with last week. What we need to do though is to start talking about their recommendations:
"Protecting Homeowners through Permanent Tax Relief
1. Enact a permanent cut in the state property tax" (Remember Ref. 47 in 1997?)
"2. Phase out the state property tax over five years"
You can read the full 2-pager at:
http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/TaxLimitation/LegMemoPropertyTaxDeferral.html#_ftnref3
December 3, 2007
To: House & Senate members & Governor Gregoire (cc'd to our thousands of supporters throughout the state & all media outlets (reporters, columnists, editorial writers, and others in newspapers, radio, and TV)
From: Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire
RE: Scarlet Letter sent today - we're gonna make 'em famous
Here's a link to the Scarlet Letter -- http://www.permanent-offense.org/scarletletter.pdf -- that was printed over the weekend and will be distributed today. It will be mailed to our 25,000+ supporters on our mailing list. We'll ask each of them to make copies and distribute them to friends and family members throughout the state. Not only will we be asking folks to sign on to these letters, we'll be asking everyone to put them up on bulletin boards and refrigerators at workplaces throughout the state. We'll also be taking advantage of the internet by repeatedly emailing the attached PDF of the Scarlet Letter to our thousands of supporters and asking them to forward the Scarlet Letter to others throughout the state.
Some politicians claimed we tried to 'move the goal-posts' during the three weeks leading up to the special session. We've been consistent, insistent, and specific from day one -- here's an excerpt from our November 9th release: "Msg to Gov & Leg: here's the minimum ... * You've got to either repeal banking authority (remember, voters repealed it in 2000 with I-722) or require voter approval at an election for anything above 1% including unused banking capacity. The gigantic stockpiled total that's now available to local governments is staggering, accumulating over the past six years. In 2002, the Port of Seattle jacked up their levy 37% using banking. You've got to make sure that 1% means 1% and if there's anything higher, it needs voter approval." (we subsequently learned that banked capacity has been accumulating for 21 years since 1986).
The voters of Washington deserve to know who blocked the 1% property tax cap during the special session. The Scarlet Letter will tell them. To further highlight the issue, Eyman will be traveling the state in the coming weeks to talk with elected officials. His first trip will be tomorrow to Yakima where he's meeting with state, county and city officials and local leaders to talk about the special session and spotlight the politicians who blocked the 1% cap. Such meetings will also be opportunities to discuss our initiative plans for 2008 and beyond.
We did everything we could to get Gregoire and the Democrats to do the right thing and approve the 1% property tax cap. They didn't. The citizens of Washington deserve to know which politicians refused to listen to the people. We're gonna make 'em famous.
Regards, Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, & Mike Dunmire
What's so funny about that?
Hello Olympia, is anyone listening.
Your 1% is a joke unless you repeal all the Banking authority?
Hello Hello anyone in Olympia listening to the voters?
If not, you sure will be in 2008!
Posted by: GS on December 3, 2007 10:56 PM