How WA Government Is Ripping Us Off

The following message was posted by Tim Eyman - undeniably the one individual in WA who has fought for the "little guy" against the state government for over 20 years now - just this morning:

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Back in 1999, the ivory tower elites -- the wine and brie crowd -- were dismissive and condescending toward us peasants as we fought to lower license tabs on cars, trucks, motorcycles, motor homes, and other vehicles to $30 per year.

But one of them broke ranks -- and what he wrote 20 years ago resonates today: 

PANIC IN THE STREETS:  THE CAR TAB ARGUMENTS

By James Vesely, Seattle Times Editorial Page Editor

"MORE than five years ago on these pages, a terrific newspaperman was blowing the whistle on the state's car-tab tax. Columnist Don Hannula, who kept his pulse on the average guy as much as anyone I ever knew, understood the fee the state took on car and truck licensing was a powder keg. It is still a powder keg, not because people are stingy or greedy or just looking out for themselves, but because it's unfair. That sense of unfairness, of being taken for granted, of being played as a sucker, is at the heart of the vote in favor of I-695. 

…

"What's nagging me about the arguments against I-695 is that all the opposition has been built on the serious impacts coming when the high tab fees end. You'll be sorry, goes the argument, when you don't have the government services you need. The other argument is that a vote in favor of I-695 is greedy, the familiar guilt stanza that accompanies any vote on tax reduction.

"As everyone knows, the state places a value on your car or truck that's a book value, even if you paid less. And as every driver knows, you pull out of the lot and the value drops like a stone. But the state still keeps the book value up to squeeze the most out of the fee structure. This is tax policy the Sheriff of Nottingham would understand.

"The pleas -- and they are pleading -- from leaders of government, the media, etc is that the system can't go on without the infusion of dollars from the car tax.

"But we can't defend an unfair tax on the basis that it is a cash cow. Dissatisfaction with the hog-ugly unfairness of the tab fees was as easy to hear coming as a bowling ball and yet no one in authority was willing to get it fixed.

"Push away the cobwebs and no matter how you look at the car-tab fees, the way they are collected is out of kilter with people's intuitive understanding of household economics.  As it stands, out of fear of the future, we are asked to defend a tax intentionally miscalculated.

"Don't tell me how bad it's going to be without car-tab revenues; explain how you defend the current tax.  If a tax is unfair at its core, a free people have the right to repeal it."

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That resonates just as much now as it did in then!

And so in 1999 with the state sitting on a $1 billion tax surplus, the voters knew they were getting ripped off, they knew politicians were never going to stop ripping us off, and so they passed I-695.  And the exclamation point was a few months later when the Democrat-dominated Legislature passed $30 tabs into law (the vote was 84-13 in the House and 39-9 in the Senate) and Gov. Gary Locke promised: "It's clear the voters didn't like, they hated, high car tab taxes. We have no intention of returning to the old system of high license tab fees. $30 license tabs are here to stay." 

And so, thanks to that, and the voters re-approval of $30 tabs in 2002 with I-776, charges on vehicles stayed relatively low for a long time.

But in recent years, state and local governments have conspired to resurrect high taxes and charges on vehicles. And so, as Vesely argued 20 years ago, "a free people have the right to repeal it."

And that's why we're bringing back our $30 tabs.

But this time around, the adjustment will be much, much easier because the state's tax surplus is 3 times larger than it was in 1999 (https://tinyurl.com/yd3oy978).  They're sitting on a whopping $3.23 billion tax surplus!!  That means that any government agency or program currently paid for with vehicle charges negated by I-976 can plead its case to the Legislature and get its funding reestablished with the surplus if it can re-justify itself.  
So not only will voter approval of I-976 stop dishonest car tab taxes and provide meaningful tax relief to everyone, it ensures enhanced public oversight and legislative scrutiny -- essentially a performance audit -- on all government programs currently funded by dishonest car tab taxes.

So I-976 isn't just good for taxpayers, it's good government too.

And that's why, we believe, the voters embrace it so overwhelmingly:



DONATE

We still need your help.

Karen and I sold off our family's retirement fund and loaned $500,000 to get this signature drive started.  We need your help to get it over the finish line - make a secure donation online:  VotersWantMoreChoices.com/Donate by PayPal, VISA, or M/C. Or you can print this form, fill it out, and mail in your contribution.

The Sec of State's deadline is this Friday (again, we're doing our turn-in on Thurs, Jan 3 but they will accept petitions all the way until 5 pm, Fri, Jan 4). 

So when mailing in your $30 Tabs Initiative petitions, DON'T SEND THEM TO SPOKANE ANYMORE.  Mail them directly to the Secretary of State's office:

$30 Tabs Initiative c/o SOS, 520 Union Ave SE, Olympia, WA, 98501