Some members of the King County Council say they want more money for their budget. Recently council members presented Resolution TD2026-01, a measure to raise the sales tax again.
If enacted, the measure would net the county council an added $102 million in revenue the first year and more than $1 billion over ten years. The sales tax in most communities would increase to 10.5% or more. In Seattle for example, the tax would rise to 10.65%, one of the highest in the nation (and that’s before a new $410 million Seattle property tax levy is imposed this fall).
People living in Renton, Issaquah and Shoreline would pay 10.6% on their daily purchases. Families living under Sound Transit’s tax-collection system would pay between 10.4% and 10.5% on purchases.
It’s not as if County officials are starved for funds. County Executive Girmay Zahilay and Councilmembers currently takes $20 billion per biennium from the county’s 2.4 million residents, to pay 18,000 public employees and fund programs. Now these officials are telling the public that we don’t pay enough.
Elected officials always impose their tax increases incrementally, hoping people won’t notice. And for those who do notice the response is dismissive. Tax backers say derisively, “It’s only $40 a year on the median family, so stop complaining...” They neglect to note that families pay the business portion of taxes too, in the form of higher prices.
State and local officials have already imposed a series of financial hits on King County residents in recent months. Here’s a partial list: A .1% sales tax increase in King County; a 10% total property tax increase across King County; a statewide 9.9% tax on higher household incomes; a hike in the gas tax to 55.4 cents a gallon, plus scheduled annual 2% increases; a new business tax on technology sales, software and advertising; a 2.1% tax on consumer services; a 600% tax increase on advanced computing companies. All these increases were imposed on top of the pre-existing tax burden family budgets were already carrying.
In their tireless pursuit of money local officials have hiked the sales tax rate by nearly two percentage points since 2003, as shown in the chart by WPC budget expert Ryan Frost.
Predictably, County Councilmembers say their latest tax increase is absolutely vital to pay for essential services, like roads and bridges, and that if they don’t get more money they will cut these public services. Every tax increase proposal comes with a plausible cover story.
What they don’t address, though, is their handling of the billions they take now. If county officials were better financial managers there would be no need and no marketing pitch for another sales tax increase.
In fact, officials who really cared would find ways to reduce the financial burden they impose on their constituents. We know that’s true because elected officials in other states do it all the time. Then King County officials could govern by taking less of people’s money instead of seeking more. And wouldn’t that be a welcome change.