Welch: Stop starving local government: Olympia must share the wealth

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Across Washington, taxpayers are feeling the squeeze from every direction. Property tax bills rise each year. Sales taxes remain among the highest in the country. Fees for everything from permits to utilities continue to climb. And at the local level, voters are being asked again and again to approve new or renewed levies just to maintain basic services.

Here in Snohomish County, that pressure is not abstract. It shows up in our mailboxes, in our utility bills, and on our ballots. Residents in Everett, Marysville, and communities across the county are being asked to pay more just to keep pace with basic services. At the same time, many are asking a simple question: how much more can we realistically afford?

It is a cycle that feels never-ending.

At the same time, Washington is becoming one of the least affordable states in the country. For many families, the cost of staying here is starting to outweigh the benefits. Even more telling, recent rankings place Washington near the bottom, 48th in the nation, as a place to retire. That is a warning sign. When a state becomes too expensive for those on fixed incomes, it signals a deeper structural problem.

But we are asking the wrong question.

Instead of repeatedly turning to taxpayers to fill the gap, we should be asking why that gap exists in the first place. The answer leads directly to Olympia and the policy choices made by the Washington State Legislature.

At the center of the issue is Washington’s 1% property tax cap. It limits how much local governments can grow their property tax revenue each year, regardless of inflation, population growth, or rising costs. While it may sound like a safeguard, in practice it has created a slow but steady financial squeeze on cities and counties.

That reality is playing out locally. Costs for public safety, road maintenance, and basic infrastructure in Snohomish County are rising far faster than 1%. Cities are being forced to make difficult decisions: delay maintenance, reduce service levels, increase fees, or go back to voters for another levy. None of those options are sustainable long term.

Costs do not grow at 1%. Police and fire services cost more. Infrastructure maintenance costs more. Labor, materials, and insurance all rise faster than the cap allows. The result is a structural gap between what local governments are allowed to collect and what it actually costs to provide services.

That gap does not disappear. It gets pushed somewhere else.

It shows up in higher sales taxes. It shows up in increased fees. And it shows up at the ballot box, where voters are asked to approve levy after levy just to keep services from being cut.

Taxpayers feel all of it.

And while this is happening at the local level, the state has seen significant revenue growth over the past decade. As the economy expands, state collections grow with it, particularly through sales taxes. The state is not operating under the same 1% constraint.

That creates a fundamental imbalance. The state’s revenue rises with economic growth, while local governments are locked into an artificial ceiling. Responsibility for delivering essential services remains local, but the financial flexibility to support those services is concentrated at the state level.

That imbalance is now being passed directly to taxpayers.

Residents are paying more across the board, not because local governments are reckless, but because the system is forcing them into it. When cities and counties cannot keep up with basic cost increases, they have only a few options: raise fees, rely more heavily on regressive taxes, or ask voters for more levies.

None of those options feel like relief to the people footing the bill.

To be clear, the solution is not to increase taxes further. Washington is already becoming less affordable, and continuing to layer on additional costs only makes it worse. Families should not be asked to solve a structural problem that originates at the state level.

The solution is for the state to share more of what it already collects.

A larger, more predictable percentage of state revenue should be regularly returned to cities and counties. Not as one-time grants. Not through complex, competitive programs. But as a stable, formula-based distribution that reflects population, service demand, and local needs.

This would do two important things.

First, it would reduce the constant pressure on taxpayers here at home. When local governments in Snohomish County have stable funding, they are less dependent on repeated levy requests and fee increases just to maintain basic services.

Second, it would restore balance to a system that has become increasingly tilted. Local jurisdictions are on the front lines. They provide the services people rely on every day. They should not be operating under artificial constraints while the state’s share continues to grow.

There is also an accountability issue that cannot be ignored. As the state retains a larger portion of total tax revenue, it assumes greater responsibility for how that money is spent. Yet too often, funding is directed into programs that lack clear outcomes or measurable results. Meanwhile, local governments, which are directly accountable to their communities, are left trying to do more with less.

And this is where leadership matters.

State legislators must be willing to put the needs of their local communities ahead of party politics. That means working directly with counties and cities, listening to the realities on the ground, and crafting solutions that reduce pressure on taxpayers instead of shifting it around. This is not a partisan issue. It is a governance issue. The goal should be simple: do not over-tax the people you represent.

If the state continues to hold onto a disproportionate share of revenue, it must demonstrate stronger accountability. If it cannot, then it should return more of those dollars to the jurisdictions that are closest to the people.

This is not about increasing taxes. It is about fixing how existing revenue is distributed.

Washington does not have a shortage of tax dollars. What it has is a system that pushes costs downward while holding resources at the top.

Taxpayers here in Snohomish County are feeling that imbalance every day, whether it shows up in a higher bill, a new fee, or another levy on the ballot.

It does not have to be this way.

It is time for the Legislature to rebalance the system, ease the burden on residents, and ensure that cities and counties have the resources they need without constantly going back to the same taxpayers for more.

Olympia does not need more from the people.

It needs to give more back.

Todd Welch is a Herald columnist covering local and state issues.