The Shoreline City Council agreed last week that approving Tim Eyman’s proposed Initiative 1033 would bind the city to historically low revenues and rebuilding the city’s general fund to pre-recession levels could mean going to the voters to increase taxes.
Therefore, the Council voted unanimously last week to put their opposition to I-1033 in writing.
Shoreline city officials joined Lake Forest Park, Kirkland, Sea Tac and Federal Way by putting their stance in writing.
The Enterprise previously reported that the Lake Forest Park City Council went public earlier this month voicing its opposition of the proposed initiative.
Voters will have their say on the proposed initiative on Nov. 3.
The initiative would use inflation and population growth as factors to limit the size of the city’s general fund and lock in revenues collected in 2009 as a baseline to calculate the size of future general funds. Voter-approved bonds and levies passed after the initiative goes into effect would be exempt.
Staff said I-1033 seeks to limit the growth of state, county and city general fund revenues received from taxes, fees and other charges not expressly approved by the voters. Returning to pre-recession revenue levels would mean asking voters to increase taxes.
If the city collects more revenue than anticipated, the additional revenue would go into a separate fund and used to lower property taxes.
Finance Director Debbie Tarry previously said the city is faced with a $1.4 million general fund shortfall from lower sales and development revenues as a result of the recession.
Tarry said the Office of Financial Management projects that by 2015, I-1033 will reduce state revenues by $5.9 billion, county revenues by $694 million and city revenues by $2.1 billion.
The initiative would prevent the city from reaching pre-recession revenue levels and create an annual $1 million budget gap, she added.
The city’s general fund covers expenses for police, jails, community services including emergency management, park maintenance, recreation programs, pool maintenance and programs, human services, planning, facilities, and various support services, according to a city press release.
“It doesn’t allow a provision to recover from the recession,” Tarry said.
Tarry said the average property owner is paying $472 in property taxes, with $85 of that covering a parks bond voters approved in 2006.
Deputy Mayor Terry Scott said the city should not follow down the same path as voters in Colorado that approved a similar ballot measure, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), during the early 90’s. After approving the measure, voters opted to suspend it.
Scott said if voters approve I-1033 it will “handcuff” residents to revenue shortfalls brought on by the recession.
Approving the initiative would tie the city’s hands and put voters in the position to make tough choices such as getting rid of the pool or making public safety cuts to balance the city’s budget, he said.
“As a community we have to step forward and say this is a bad idea that has to stop,” he said.
Councilwoman Janet Way said the initiative would challenge the city and county’s efforts to offer services that meet citizens’ needs.
Way said Shoreline would be “handicapped” by I-1033 and stressed it’s important for voters to consider the impact of their vote.
“I would urge voters to vote ‘no,’” she said.
Councilman Ron Hansen described the initiative as taking a “shot gun approach” to limiting property taxes.
Hansen said eventually the city would have to go to the voters to make up for the loss in revenue and keep up with demands like improving infrastructure.
“It would lock us down for a long period of time,” he said.
Hansen said generally speaking, initiatives typically do not do as good of a job as intended.
“I have never seen one passed without unforeseen consequences,” he said. “They’re not well thought out.”
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