the official blog of the evergreen freedom foundation

Want to know how today’s Supreme Court ruling will affect your property tax burden? No one knows for sure yet, but the worst case scenario doesn’t look good. The AP reports:

“Every local government, from right now, has the ability to jack up property taxes by 30 percent without the vote of the people," [Tim Eyman] said. Attorney General Rob McKenna said his office was still analyzing what the potential tax impact could be.

The 30 percent figure comes from a backlog of taxing authority that was on hold while Initiative 747 was in effect. Local governments had to limit annual property tax increases to one percent until today’s ruling.

History has already shown us how counties react to tax limits…they push them. In 2003, the Washington Policy Center analyzed statewide property tax increases by county between 1998 and 2003.

Old property tax rules limited annual rate increases to six percent. Initiative 722 limited that increase to two percent, and the subsequent Initiative 747 limited it to 1 percent, unless the people agree to a higher rate.

The WPC study showed a marked difference between pre and post initiative tax rates.

“In our [2003] survey, well over 90% of Washington counties and major cities limited their annual increase in regular property tax collections to 1% or less. This is a considerable change from 1998, when only six counties and two cities held property tax increases to 1% or less. Initiative 747 has markedly eased the yearly increase in the tax burden imposed by counties and major cities. Property taxes are much lower today than they would have been under previous law, resulting in significant tax savings to Washington citizens.”

Clearly, when the taxman rolls around in the near future, we can expect to pay more than we would have had Initiative 747 been upheld. Expect counties to return to the six percent line and stay there.

Looks like the people will have to tell the Supremes for the THIRD time what they meant. Where’s the justice in that?