Yesterday I was asked to present Washington Policy Center’s research at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on a proposed bill some lawmakers have introduced to break a promise they made about not raising taxes.

In 2010 the legislature passed a temporary increase in local levy rates to provide a short-term increase in funding for schools.  Property taxes are scheduled to return to normal levels next January.  School managers have known of the change for seven years and many of them are prepared for the funding adjustment.

The proposed bill, HB 1059, would cancel the return to normal tax rates (that’s the breaking-the-promise part) and delay the date for lowering property taxes by one year.

Backers of the bill say the delay in normalizing tax rates is only temporary.  Of course, that is what they said last time.  My statement to the Committee is below.

Statement of Liv Finne

Director, Education Policy – Washington Policy Center

on HB 1059, to cancel the reduction of local property tax rates

House Appropriations Committee – Olympia, Washington

January 11, 2017

Good afternoon.  My name is Liv Finne, Washington Policy Center, Director for Education.  Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on HB 1059.

We believe this bill is bad public policy for one simple reason – it breaks a promise you made to the people of Washington state.

It is not surprising that, these days, people are suspicious of elected officials at all levels, federal, state and local.  It is so common for public officials to go back on their word that people often feel the system is rigged against them.

As I was doing research on this bill, this commonly-held belief occurred to me, and I found that, sure enough, some state lawmakers want to reverse what they told the public in the past.

My research into HB 1059 shows that state lawmakers promised in 2010 that this local property tax increase would be temporary.  I counted five floor statements and the Governor’s official remarks to this effect.  In addition, the promised date for returning local tax rates to normal levels was included in the title and the text of the bill.

School administrators and union executives will of course say they want the higher taxes, because that serves their interests, but school districts have known for seven years that local taxes will return to normal levels next January 1st.  Homeowners are expecting the same thing, because lawmakers told the public that is the plan.  Imagine the surprise of people across the state when they learn that you enacted a new, permanent property tax instead.

I know the sponsors will call this a temporary extension, but that is what you said before. Passing HB 1059 breaks a clear promise lawmakers made to the people. This bill gives the appearance of deception on the part of the people’s representatives, when the public is told one thing, and something else happens instead.

For this reason I believe this bill is bad public policy because it undermines public trust in government.  I have submitted for your review a Legislative Memo with my research on this matter.