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May 25, 2006 |
Contact: John Barnes |
It is not fair for Mayor Nickels to ask citizens to pay extra for basic services
Seattle - Since becoming Mayor, Greg Nickels has spent over $3.2 billion in regular taxes collected from citizens. Now he is seeking new taxes to pay for the basic service of repairing the city's roads and bridges.
On top of the $3.2 billion regular revenue, city leaders have urged citizens to pay added taxes for county parks (until 2007), public green spaces (until 2009), 911 emergency service (until 2008), Seattle Center remodel (until 2008), more families and education funding (until 2011), added housing funding (until 2009), a youth detention center (until 2008), new firehouses (until 2012), a Harborview refit (until 2020), a new downtown library (until 2028), as well as extra money for a new city hall and a number of social programs.
Now, Mayor Nickels says, "we're in a bit of a fix" on street repair (Seattle Times March 8, 2006).
The current property tax rate is already $11.19 per $1,000 of assessed value. The Nickels tax plan add 45.1 cents per $1,000 the first-year, plus a new 10% tax on commercial parking, and a yearly $25 head tax on each person working downtown (apparently city employees are exempt).
It's a consistent pattern in Seattle. Elected leaders spend the regular budget on lower-priority items, then ask citizens to pay extra for essential services. Each new tax results in a pay cut for Seattle's working families.
"The city's regular revenues are higher than ever," said Paul Guppy, Washington Policy Center's Research Director, "It is simply not fair for the Mayor to ask people to pay even more just to keep basic serves."
In the past, each new levy proposal was considered in isolation, seemed reasonable, and passed fairly easily. But over time special taxes add up and put tremendous financial pressure on working families trying to stay in the city.
The Mayor should be more upfront and inform citizens about how much we are paying now in special levies before asking for extra money, especially to pay for basic services like street repair. Seattle residents today are paying for ten city and county special levies and bond issues, on top of the regular property tax burden. Knowing how much special levies cost now is essential to making an informed decision about adding another one.
Government is about accountability, and maintaining streets and bridges is a core function of government. Before Mayor Nickels again seeks to increase our tax burden, he and other city leaders should explain why they are not using the money they take now to solve this problem.
"Between the parking tax, head tax and property tax, the Mayor's new levy not only punishing Seattle's working families, but businesses as well both large and small,"said WPC President Dann Mead Smith.