05/07/2025
Regarding the Need for New Revenue to Avoid Cuts to Critical Services
The Honorable Governor Bob Ferguson
The Honorable Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen
The Honorable Senator June Robinson, Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee
The Honorable Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins
The Honorable Representative Timm Ormsby, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee
The Honorable Representative April Berg, Chair of the House Finance Committee
RE: Local Jurisdictions Need New Revenue
Dear Senate Majority Leader Pedersen, Senator Robinson, House Speaker Jinkins, Representative Ormsby, Representative Berg, and Governor Ferguson,
As local elected officials from across the state, we know firsthand how our regressive and outdated tax code hampers our ability to serve our constituents. Our tax code hasnโt been significantly updated in 100 years. While our statewide population has grown significantly, we are not collecting enough revenue for the investments needed to support our communities and economy, including funding for infrastructure, housing and human services, public health, and public safety, to name a few. A 23-year-old state law limits the ability of local jurisdictions to increase property taxes to just 1% plus the revenue from new construction per year, and with few revenue options under state law, our local county and city revenues have not kept up with inflation and population growth. To compound our revenue crisis, federal cuts and programmatic erosion stand to exacerbate the state and local budget challenges and threaten the health of our communities and the stability of our economies.
A majority of our budgets are mandated by state or federal law, contracts, or legal agreements. Consequently, potential cuts to make up the budget deficits would be concentrated in programs protecting public health and safety, and services relied upon by our most vulnerable communities. We are forced to over-rely on property tax revenue, which makes up 60% or more of county general fund budgets. With state-imposed limitations on property tax increases, combined with high inflation and very few sources of additional revenue, we now face budget deficits totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Cuts of this magnitude would be the most serious our communities have experienced since the Great Depression. However, unlike in past recessions, due to the structural nature of our budget deficits, cuts would not be restored through economic recovery. In order to avoid deep cuts and to put us on a path towards more resilient and sustainable budgets, we need additional revenue tools. As legislative leaders, we respectfully request your support for local municipalities and counties, and in turn, support for all Washingtonians.
We, the undersigned, have come together to ask that you consider all new sources of revenue.
This includes local revenue tools like HB 1334 to lift the 1% property tax cap, SB 5775 to provide councilmanic authority for the 3/10ths percent public safety sales tax, and HB 2015 the local option public safety 1/10th percent sales tax which would provide critical criminal justice support through a law enforcement grant program, supplemental criminal justice distributions, and a local option sales tax. In addition, we support state solutions for a more balanced tax code such as the Intangibles Tax, a Statewide Payroll Tax, and Large Corporation B&O Premium tax, the R**T bills, and other more equitable revenue generating options. We also support the creation of local options for some of these tools (like a local option payroll tax) that could add revenue to local jurisdictions from sources other than sales and property taxes.
We urge you to support these near- and long-term solutions to ensure stable and sustainable budgeting so that we can take care of all Washingtonians and continue services that people depend on. Ask the wealthy few and profitable corporations to pay more in taxes. Those who have done well in Washington should do right by Washington. Thank you for your work and leadership to help ensure local jurisdictions have additional tools to supplement the strategies that are selected to balance the state budget.
Public opinion research indicates that voters understand and support the need to fund critical services, avoid cuts to programs, and fix our tax code. Voters have told us time and again that they want elected leaders to balance our tax code in order to pay for the things our communities need, like housing, health care, childcare, education. We thank you for your effort to reform our outdated and inequitable tax code and help us leverage policies to raise revenue so that we can deliver the services our local communities desperately need.
We, the undersigned, have come together to ask that you consider all new sources of revenue.
Sincerely,
Black Diamond Mayor Carol Benson
Burien Deputy Mayor Sarah Moore
Burien City Councilmember Hugo Garcia
Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson
Bothell Deputy Mayor Rami Al-Kabra
Bothell City Councilmember Amanda Dodd
Bothell City Councilmember Jenne Alderks
Carnation Mayor Adair Hawkins
Clallam County County Commissioner Mark Ozias
Federal Way City Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson
Highline School Board Vice President of the Stephanie Tidholm
Island County Commissioner Janet St Clair
Issaquah City Council Deputy President Barbara de Michele
Jefferson County County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour
Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig
