The Nuts And Bolts Of Tax Revolt Petitions Backing Initiative 650 Draw A Crowd At Hardware Store
David McKay came to Eagle Hardware to get some plumbing parts for the house he’s remodeling. On the way to the faucets, he joined Washington’s latest tax revolt.
“Spokane County is going crazy on taxes. This has to stop,” McKay said as he signed Initiative 650, a grassroots effort to roll back property taxes.
This week at the North Division hardware store, housewives, retirees and carpenters signed petitions to put the measure on the November ballot. Others drove by in pickups, scribbling their names without leaving their vehicles.
As Rush Limbaugh fumed against government over a talk radio loudspeaker, 100 people signed in one hour. More than 2,500 Spokane-area residents signed last weekend, organizers say.
With the anti-tax mood throughout the state and the recent mix-ups in the Spokane County assessor’s office, Initiative 650 has struck a nerve.
“We have to rein in government. I’m very concerned about the future,” said Stan Derry, a retiree on a fixed income.
More than 181,000 valid signatures of registered voters are needed statewide by July 7 to qualify the measure for the ballot. Organizers say they have more than 110,000 names so far. About 300 Spokane area volunteers are working to gather names.
“It’s going to be really close. But about 75 percent of the people who come by listen and sign,” said Spokane organizer Larry Hartley.
The initiative would reset all property values at 1993 levels and cap annual increases at no more than 2 percent.
It also would create a property tax exemption for a primary residence - resulting in a tax cut of about 50 percent for the average homeowner.
Several petition signers this week lashed out at Spokane County Assessor Charlene Cooney, saying recent assessment blunders have made them lose faith in the property tax system.
“My property taxes are up 60 percent. I can’t afford it,” said Bev Holien, a North Spokane homeowner and initiative drive volunteer.
Organizers say their movement is strictly grass roots. They aren’t paying professional signature-gatherers, but they have talked with a Libertarian political consultant in California and also have gotten help from Spokane’s right-wing radio talk jocks.
KGA Radio has broadcast from six area stores and supermarkets to help get signatures.
KGA’s Bob Lutz worked the Eagle Hardware parking lot this week, passing out Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy bumper stickers to the petition-signers.
“They raised my property taxes 22 percent, so I just jumped on the bandwagon,” Lutz said.
Spokane’s top initiative organizers are former Californians who supported Proposition 13, the successful drive to cap property taxes in that state.
North Side organizer Dick Stowell is an elementary school teacher from Southern California who took early retirement and moved to Spokane.
When he bought his house in Colbert in 1992, he had a $1,500 property tax bill. In 1993, it rose to $2,100, and to $2,600 last year.
“These increases have more than consumed my pension increases. It scares me,” Stowell said.
Hartley, a Valley resident, is a former Bay Area carpenter who moved to Spokane nine years ago. He works as a construction project manager.
“My taxes are going up, but I’m still working. Older people are getting taxed out of their homes. My goal is to protect them,” Hartley said.
Critics say California’s Proposition 13 has had a disastrous effect on schools, libraries and other public resources.
Like Initiative 650, it gives substantial tax relief to long-time home owners, while penalizing newcomers who must pay higher property taxes by allowing a new assessment when a property changes hands.
Gov. Mike Lowry has said he opposes property tax cuts because Washington can’t afford them.
Initiative 650 leaders expect organized opposition to emerge if the measure is certified for the November election. A similar measure failed at the polls in 1991.
“We know our initiative isn’t 100 percent popular. But we think the current tax system is inequitable,” Hartley said.
, DataTimes