Speculation has already begun surrounding the recently filed, Bill Gates Sr.-backed Initiative 1077. The push for signatures to get it on the ballot in November has just gotten underway, and people are fired up about it.
I-1077 proposes an income tax on the states wealthiest 3 percent, those who make $200,000 a year, $400,000 for a couple. According to the filed documents, the added revenue for the state would allow for a 20 percent decrease in state property taxes, a bump in the business and occupation tax credit from $420 to $4,800, and would establish a fund “dedicated to funding education and health services and middle class tax relief.”
So now you may ask, what's not to like? It's very Robin Hood-esque, this taking from the rich to help the poor.
There's plenty of data to convince us that Washington's tax system needs to be changed, that the poor are paying a much larger chunk of their wages in taxes than the wealthy, and that's not OK. Some say I-1077 would be discriminatory against the wealthy, since they're the only ones who would have to pay up. But we're not about to cry about the plight of the rich; we're in the community newspaper business, we know from experience that you can get by on much, much, much less than $200,000 a year.
The point is, we're wary of I-1077 because we don't trust our state government to do what it's supposed to do.
Gates says this initiative will make things fair for all taxpayers, even reduce taxes for the vast majority of citizens. The idea is a good one, which is why it's hard to oppose. But after year after year of budget deficits, the state government still can't seem to manage it's finances. Why bring in more revenue when the state can't seem to use it wisely?
The initiative proposes a fund for education and health care. These are huge needs in our state. But they're also areas where systematic changes need to occur to improve service to citizens. Throwing money into systems that don't work will only give the government an out, an excuse to fix the system later since we can afford to pay for the broken system now.
Increasing taxes for the wealthy doesn't seem like it would really hurt anyone. But who's to say the government won't get greedy and expand it to those who make $100,000 a year, or $50,000 a year? Don't forget, the federal income tax started at 1 percent. Pretty sure none of us paid the feds that little this year. It's something to keep in mind.
It remains to be seen how the public will stomach this initiative. Washinton voters have rejected an income tax four out of five times, and the time they approved it the measure was deemed unconstitutional. It's possible I-1077 would never make it past the state Supreme Court either. If it even makes it to the ballot, we'll have to say no, not because we want to protect the wealthy, or because we enjoy paying the ridiculous B&O tax, or even because we hate schools. It just seems like, until the state government can show that they can do right by the citizens, they don't deserve to get more of anybody's money, no matter how rich they are.
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