State Supreme Court Should Restore 1% Property Tax Limit 

Seattle - Today the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling invalidating voter-passed Initiative 747, which set a 1% limit on the annual increase in regular property tax collections.

On June 13, 2006 King County Superior Court Judge Mary E. Roberts struck down Initiative 747 property tax limits, paving the way for state and local officials to increase the tax burden by as much as 6% a year.

An analysis of the Judge Roberts' ruling by the Washington Policy Center finds that her reasoning is mistaken in two ways:

1. Voters were not misled about what Initiative 747 would do. Initiative 747 passed by almost 58% of the vote.  It passed in every county except King and Whitman. Voters knew exactly what they were doing.  There was a vigorous campaign, and even activists who favor higher taxes knew what they were trying to stop.

2. Judge Roberts is wrong that Initiative 747 is unconstitutional, because in drafting and filing I-747, its sponsor followed all the rules that were in place at the time.

"Judge Roberts has set a neat trap for voters,"� says Paul Guppy.  "Since no one can tell how the law might change between January, when an initiative is filed, and November, her ruling effectively deprives the people of the right to make law through initiative."�

The legislature or another judge could use the Roberts Rule to sabotage any future initiative simply by changing underlying law after an initiative is filed but before election day.  That would automatically make any initiative "unconstitutional." It is simply not possible to draft an initiative that meets Judge Roberts' test for constitutionality.

Court rulings don't operate in a vacuum.  The effect of a ruling is as important as the train of reasoning that led to it.  In this case, the effect of Judge Roberts' ruling is to nullify the initiative process.  It doesn't make sense that a ruling that is supposed to uphold the state constitution results in the people losing a basic constitutional right.

"Hopefully the state Supreme Court will reverse this misguided decision,"� Guppy added.

Vice President for Research Paul Guppy is available for interviews or comments on this issue by contacting Lyndsey Hartje at lhartje@washingtonpolicy.org or call 206-937-9691.