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Home / Washington Business - September/October 2004 / PRO-CON: Passing I-892 is About Doing Something Right |
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PRO-CON: Passing I-892 is About Doing Something Right |
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Written On: September/October 2004 |
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Written By: By Tim Eyman |
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Tim Eyman is sponsor of the “Just Treat Us the Same” Initiative 892 and the head of Voters Want More Choices, a grass roots taxpayer-protection organization.
When it comes to citizen activism, criticism is the ultimate compliment. Elitists in the government and media do not spend their time sputtering and pontificating about ineffective activists; they only attack those making a difference. The fact that our taxpayer-protection efforts this year earned so much hyperventilation is an obvious sign that we must be doing something right.
In this election cycle, we decided that our state’s property tax problem was the number one issue that needed fixing. Politicians have allowed this pernicious problem to escalate for decades. Families and senior citizens are struggling under, and our economic growth is depressed by, our state’s crushing property tax burden. We found Washington’s property tax problem so obnoxious that we put forth two initiatives this year, one that reduced state property taxes and the other that reduced local property taxes. By the deadline, one of two had garnered the necessary signatures.
Now, I’m a glass-is-half-full kind of guy. I’m simply thrilled that thanks to the voluntary signatures of 274,293 citizens, the electorate will finally get the chance to improve our state’s out-of-control property tax problem in November.
According to the Dept. of Revenue, citizens paid $1 billion in property taxes in 1980. We paid $6.25 billion in 2003. That six-fold increase is obscene and unsustainable. With the help of the Washington Policy Center, we learned that property taxes, since 1980, have nearly doubled per citizen after accounting for inflation and population growth. Taxpayers don’t need to be convinced that property taxes are skyrocketing; they only want to hear about the solution. This fall, the only tax relief available to voters is Initiative 892.
I-892 Lowers Property Taxes
I-892 is the most unique tax initiative we’ve ever offered because it substantially lowers property taxes for citizens but doesn’t cost the government a penny. How? I-892 imposes a 35 percent user fee on electronic scratch ticket machines, using that $400 million per year in new revenues to substantially lower property taxes. Currently, these machines aren’t taxed. I-892 simply allows the non-tribal establishments to compete with the tribes (who don’t pay taxes), levels the playing field and substantially lowers property taxes without costing government a penny. I-892 is a win-win, revenue-neutral, tax-cutting initiative.
Opponents’ main objection is that I-892 “expands gambling.” Wrong. I-892 only allows EXISTING non-tribal establishments (NOT grocery or convenience stores — only gambling licensees whose customers are 21 and over) to compete with the tribes who already offer these same machines. So I-892 authorizes nothing new, it just gives the fixed number of people who play these machines a different place to go. I-892 doesn’t “take away” from the tribes — it only requires them to compete.
And since the tribes pay no taxes to federal, state, and local governments, they’ll compete just fine.
John McCoy (D-Marysville) said that I-892 involves “economic racism.” He’s got it backwards. Right now, the tribes are receiving preferential treatment by the politicians by being given a government-protected monopoly. Initiative 892 is called “Just Treat Us The Same” because it advocates a principle we all believe in, equal treatment. Government shouldn’t discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to citizens based on their group affiliation. I-892 requires equal treatment of non-tribal and tribal establishments. That’s fair. Governmental policy that treats some people better than others is divisive, discriminatory and just plain wrong.
Every tax initiative we've ever qualified for the ballot has been approved by the voters. Why? Because the voters know that our initiatives are their only opportunity to limit their crushing tax burden. Skyrocketing property taxes, job-killing business taxes, sky-high utility taxes, and hundreds of taxes and fees on virtually every government service. Politicians in Washington apparently believe they can tax us into prosperity.
Opponents Like to Beat Up On Eyman
Washington is the seventh highest taxed state in the nation. Opponents of I-892 say it isn’t fair to tell voters about that ranking because it includes federal taxes. But looking at the overall tax burden is the only reasonable way to look at taxes because all taxes are paid from the one family budget.
Opponents are using their laughably ineffective attack-the-messenger strategy again this year. “Don’t support I-892 because Tim Eyman is a bad guy.” This kind of rhetoric simply illustrates how intellectually bankrupt our opponents have become.
Voters care about the message, not the messenger. They passionately support principles, not personalities.
In the privacy of the ballot booth, voters ask themselves a very basic question: Is this initiative reasonable? I believe that I-892 passes that test. It offers lower property taxes for citizens, no revenue loss for government, while allowing competition and a more level playing field between the non-tribal and tribal establishments. I-892 simply ensures a governmental policy of equal treatment. I think a majority of voters agree that treating everyone equally is the best approach.
I’m thrilled that average taxpayers will have the chance to have their voices heard in November on this unique tax cutting initiative.
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