Initiative 892 promises revenue-neutral tax relief. Who wouldn’t favor that?
That’s the problem. If it sounds too good to be true …
I-892, this year’s statewide offering from Tim Eyman’s initiative factory, would indeed result in modest property tax relief. It would allow non-tribal gambling establishments to offer virtual slot machines, with the state collecting 35 percent of the profits and earmarking its take to offset property taxes.
Businesses that currently offer gambling – mini-casinos, taverns, restaurants, bowling alleys – would be eligible to have the machines. The statewide total would equal the number of machines allowed in the state’s tribal casinos, currently 18,225.
According to estimates by the state Office of Financial Management, by 2009 the measure would lower property taxes by about $252 million. That’s $70 a year for the owner of a $224,000 home, the state median.
That leaves voters to weigh modest property tax relief against the addition of virtual slot machines in neighborhoods throughout the state.
Prosecutors, like Democrat Janice Ellis in Snohomish County and Republican Norm Maleng in King County, strongly oppose I-892, saying it would increase problem gambling and saddle taxpayers with greater expenses for domestic violence, drug and alcohol problems, bankruptcy, child neglect and theft. Ellis also argues that adding these machines to more establishments sends the wrong message to kids, who will see their use in licensed restaurants and bowling alleys as a fun activity.
The tribes have a monopoly on these machines – one they’re spending millions of dollars in this campaign to keep – and proponents argue that’s not fair. Maybe not, but we don’t see that as the overriding issue here. The proliferation of tribal and non-tribal gambling over the past decade, we believe, hasn’t been good for society. It may be impossible to turn back the clock, but we can keep it where it is.
And speaking of fairness, communities that don’t want the machines will be stuck with an unfair choice. In order to keep them out, they’d have to ban other forms of gambling, including charity bingo. It’s all or nothing, leaving little local control.
Even the measure’s revenue-neutrality is doubtful. According to the OFM, if increased gambling competition caused lottery sales to fall by 25 percent, the Education Construction Account would lose $60 million in the 2007-09 biennium. The state Gambling Commission estimates that local gambling revenues could decrease by $8.4 million by 2008.
I-892 really comes down to a personal value judgment: Does a modest tax cut – about $6 a month for the state’s average homeowner by 2009 – make the addition of 18,225 virtual slot machines worthwhile? Our judgment is no.
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