Maybe it’s fortunate that Proposition 1 went down. Where does it stop, right? It doesn’t, not as long as we continue to grow, both in population and in services demanded by our citizens. We’re told growth is supposed to be good. It means more jobs, therefore more folks to pay taxes, thus sharing and lessening the tax burden, supposedly. What it really means is higher taxes, highway gridlock, underfunded services, and city, county, and state government always looking to raise more revenue to keep up with the demand. The simple fact is, growth is good for the businessman who sees more customers and therefore a healthier bottom line and the business lobby runs this state, but for the rest of us it’s all too evident as to what it means.
The only true fair way to raise revenue, in my opinion, is a graduated state income tax. Many of us, especially the wealthy, have fought for years against such a tax, saying that it just keeps increasing like all other taxes and that’s probably true, but it’s the only tax that keeps it fair. Prop. 1 would have taxed us all at the same rate, no matter your income. That’s called a regressive tax and this state has some of the most regressive taxes in the nation.
We pay the second highest gas tax in the nation, we are among the highest in sales taxes, and our beneficent lawmakers in Olympia lay billions of dollars in tax breaks on a company that continues to send local jobs elsewhere and no accounting as to whether or not it’s worth it.
We need a tax overhaul in this state and maybe the only way to get it is to continue to vote down tax increases like Prop 1. Not the way it should be, but do we have a choice?
Don Curtis
Stanwood
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