Federal Way -
"This will affect everything states, counties and cities do, says Economist Kriss Sjoblom. "Social Services, health care, education and more," he says.
Sjoblom admits this is a tricky one for voters. 1033 limits the amount of revenue, say from taxes or fees, that government can use on just about all levels: city, county and state.
Activist Tim Eyman is behind the initiative and he says 1033 is all about controlling government from over-taxing us.
"Our government doesn't seem to be able to control itself when times are good and that sets us up for massive deficits," he says.
Here's how it works: take the percentage of population growth in a year, say 2%, add that with inflation - say 2% and that would be the limit: 4%. That's the most your lawmakers could spend that year.
The Federal Way city council just voted unanimously to oppose initiative 1033. The city's financial services administrator Bryant Enge says they've already had to make big cuts to their bottom line.
"It's a big deal. We've already laid off 12 employees to try and pay for officers," he says.
Here's the hook: any more revenue above that 4% would end up as a property tax rebate to homeowners the next year. It sounds golden to some, while others are predicting a disaster.
"Not only can we not fund officers, we can't fix streets, our park programs are on hold and another dip, well, I don't know what would happen," says Enge.
"We think the priority should be if they grow extra they should be lowering property taxes and not setting us up for another fiscal roller-coaster," says Eyman.
"It's a seat of the pants reaction," says Sjoblom. "Do governments have enough money or not? Do people think they have enough money or not? Dangling property taxes is very attractive right now when times are tight."
Questions voters will have to answer themselves next month.
A Survey-USA study on 1033 polled 548 people around the state.
45% said they would support it, 32% said no, while 22% have not decided.
Eyman says despite those numbers, come November, he's confident his initiative will pass.
Sjoblom admits this is a tricky one for voters. 1033 limits the amount of revenue, say from taxes or fees, that government can use on just about all levels: city, county and state.
Activist Tim Eyman is behind the initiative and he says 1033 is all about controlling government from over-taxing us.
"Our government doesn't seem to be able to control itself when times are good and that sets us up for massive deficits," he says.
Here's how it works: take the percentage of population growth in a year, say 2%, add that with inflation - say 2% and that would be the limit: 4%. That's the most your lawmakers could spend that year.
The Federal Way city council just voted unanimously to oppose initiative 1033. The city's financial services administrator Bryant Enge says they've already had to make big cuts to their bottom line.
"It's a big deal. We've already laid off 12 employees to try and pay for officers," he says.
Here's the hook: any more revenue above that 4% would end up as a property tax rebate to homeowners the next year. It sounds golden to some, while others are predicting a disaster.
"Not only can we not fund officers, we can't fix streets, our park programs are on hold and another dip, well, I don't know what would happen," says Enge.
"We think the priority should be if they grow extra they should be lowering property taxes and not setting us up for another fiscal roller-coaster," says Eyman.
"It's a seat of the pants reaction," says Sjoblom. "Do governments have enough money or not? Do people think they have enough money or not? Dangling property taxes is very attractive right now when times are tight."
Questions voters will have to answer themselves next month.
A Survey-USA study on 1033 polled 548 people around the state.
45% said they would support it, 32% said no, while 22% have not decided.
Eyman says despite those numbers, come November, he's confident his initiative will pass.
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