Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: So what's so bad about property taxes?
  • A: Several things:
  • 1. Property taxes are based upon valuations, not your ability to pay, so you can literally be taxed out of your home, and many people have been;
  • 2. Property taxes are unpredictable and uncontrollable, because valuations can jump so dramatically for reasons totally outside the control of the homeowner;
  • 3. Property taxes are a kind of rent you pay the government, which in effect makes it your landlord, the de facto owner of your property.
• Q: Doesn't Tim Eyman's new Initiative 722, the "Son of I-695," address the problem of unpredictable, excessive valuation increases by putting a 2% or inflation cap on the rate at which valuations can rise?
  • A: Support I-722 but remember this:
  • 1. Property taxes are too high now, and I-722 does nothing to address that problem.
  • 2. Look at what the government is doing to I-695 -- they probably have staff people looking for loopholes in I-722 right now. It's time for direct action by the people.
• Q: So you're actually advocating that people fed up with property taxes simply don't pay them -- won't they eventually lose their homes if they don't, and won't the accumulating interest and penalties hurt them even worse than if they just pay up?
  • A: You have up to three years before the county can take any action against you; in the meantime the interest and penalties amount to approximately 15%; invest the money in a good growth mutual fund and you will at least keep even, if not make something on the deal.
• Q: Don't mutual funds have minimum investment amounts? What about those whose property taxes, even though hard on their budget, fall below minimum investment amounts?
  • A: Two things here:
  • 1. many good mutual funds have relatively low minimums, like $250 or $500 -- property taxes can easily amount to that much;
  • 2. this effort won't work for everyone, but if enough of us do it, the state will have to find an alternative to property taxes.
• Q: The stock market has been doing good lately, but you can't count on it to do so forever, can you?
  • A: Two points:
  • 1. while we shouldn't assume that the recent extraordinary strength of the market will continue indefinitely, but over any period you like -- and remember the three year window you have to pay the tax -- a good mutual fund can be relied upon to do better than the tax interest and penalties.
  • 2. If for some reason your investments can't keep up, you can cash them in and pay the tax at any time.
• Q. Isn't investing complicated and difficult for the average person who knows nothing about it.
  • A: Absolutely NOT, anymore. There are literally hundreds of mutual funds out there that are very consumer-friendly, that allow you to write checks on your account and provide a host of easy to use services. Anyone who isn't investing today, should be. Check out www.morningstar.com for a complete rating of mutual funds.
• Q: So what's your goal, exactly? You're asking people to withhold their property taxes until what happens?
  • A: Until the state repeals the property tax. If enough people do withhold their taxes, the state will have to do something, and if they don't have the property tax revenue coming in, they might as well give up on it and find another source.
• Q: So let's say this works, and brings the state to its knees, and they decide to repeal the property tax -- won't they just replace it with an income tax, or something else that might be even worse that what we have now?
  • A: Looking at how abysmally our legislature operates, that's a good point, but remember, they already have a tax in place that is predictable and fair to everyone and easy to administer -- the sales tax. The sales tax is the best tax for at least 5 reasons:
  • 1. The sales tax collection and distribution mechanisms are already in place, and the revenues are already distributed between local and state governments, just like the property tax, so we wouldn't have to create a whole new set of laws and a new bureaucracy;
  • 2. Sales taxes are predictable and controllable by the taxpayer: You pay sales tax only when you spend your own money, so you control the amount of tax you pay;
  • 3. Sales taxes are fair to everyone: You pay in proportion to the amount you spend, so the tax is higher on the more affluent, lowest on those with limited incomes;
  • 4. Sales taxes don't impact the poor: necessities like food and housing are exempt from sales taxes;
  • 5. Sales taxes maintain privacy: individuals don't have to provide detailed reporting of their incomes and expenses, like they do with income taxes.
• Q: What organizations are behind this effort?
  • A: NONE -- this effort was started by an individual citizen fed up with unfair and out of control property taxes who decided to do something about it.
• Q: This is really anti-government extremism, isn't it?
  • A: It's a reasonable response to the extreme arrogance of and overspending by state and local government, which is controlled not by elected officials, but by bureaucrats whose jobs are protected by union contracts. It's not anti-government, it's anti BAD government, and we have extremely bad government in Olympia, where the most powerful lobby groups are the public employees unions, funded indirectly by the very taxpayers they are exploiting.
• Q: Don't local governments get the lion share of the property tax money. Won't this idea, if it takes hold, hurt local governments more than the state?
  • A: Yes, local government receives about 74% of the property tax revenue. They also are the biggest over-spenders. County taxes have more than doubled (106.7% increase) in the last ten years, which is 2.5 times inflation and way more than population increase.
• Q: But you remember what they did in California with Prop 13; they used it as an excuse to cut police, fire, libraries, things all people really need and want.
  • A: Two points here:
  • 1. If the locals do that, we can at least fire the elected officials who let them get away with it;
  • 2. Local governments have been shortchanging public safety and roads in favor of administrative expenses. From 1991 to 1994, overall spending by counties increased 41%, by cities 37%, but the proportion for public safety remained the same and decreased for roads. The biggest increases went to administrative expenses.

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