Initiative 747's blind spot: the future

Long-term erosion of public services is virtually guaranteed under Initiative 747, the property-tax-limitation measure.

The sky does not fall immediately with passage of I-747, but over time, this penny-pinching will be felt in roads, public safety, libraries and hospital districts.

Eyman's ability to pick targets that resonate with voters is without peer, and he raises the cash to pay people to rustle up signatures.

His failings are fundamental to the initiative process. Success at the polls has been undone by the courts because of sloppiness and zeal in constructing the initiatives. Flaws that would normally be uncovered and aired in public hearings and the legislative process go undetected until it's too late.

As important, the consequences of the initiatives on civic life are not fully explored and debated so adjustments can be made accordingly. This is not a criticism of just one man's campaign but of a movement that takes aim at singular examples of government inefficiencies with a shotgun.

After the courts threw out a cluttered property-tax cap, Eyman's organization, Permanent Offense, roared back with a vengeance: a 1-percent cap on property-tax increases without asking voters.

For years, local governments and special taxing districts have operated with a 6-percent limitation. They could automatically raise property taxes to that amount, but the majority of cities and counties do not. Increases are closer to the inflation rate.

Districts that rely on property taxes, such as fire districts, do take the full amount to help pay for growth and sustain existing services. Given the emotional events of Sept. 11, firefighters will be pushed front and center as a potent symbol of the stakes.

They also pointedly illustrate the dilemma without embellishment. Growth does not pay for itself. Demand for services and the expense of equipment and personnel are real for fire districts long before any extra money from "new construction" arrives.

Capping property taxes puts a bind on tiny cities east of the mountains with minuscule tax bases and no growth, as well as areas with explosive growth, such as Snohomish County.

Considering the crowded roads in Snohomish County, why would voters want to hamstring a property-tax-supported road fund?

Fire, library and hospital districts tend to take a full 6 percent because their options are limited. Demand for services is not.

Eyman and Republican King County Councilman Rob McKenna, who helped write I-747, leave an out — of sorts: Cities, counties, ports and other services can ask voters for more money at multiple, expensive elections. Post I-747, the trap is voters will be turned off by competing levies on crowded ballots.

More likely, officials won't ask. Budgets will be cut, services will erode and maintenance will be deferred. The cumulative cost of doing the public's business will grow, for want of a few timely dollars.

Typical of recent state initiative work, I-747 is penny wise and pound foolish.