UPDATE 9/9/09: The schedule for public input on the city’s response to Initiative No. 1033 has changed: The Burien City Council will hear Pro and Con statements on Sept. 14th, then discuss it on Sept. 28th and consider a resolution on Oct. 5th.

PREVIOUSLY: The City of Burien is seeking public input at 7pm on Monday, Sept. 28th Monday, Sept. 14th considering a resolution regarding Initiative Measure No. 1033, the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure that would “limit growth of certain state, county and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth, not including voter-approved revenue increases. Revenue collected above the limit would reduce property tax levies.”

Voters will choose to approve or deny this initiative on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd.

Opponents call 1033 the “Jobs Killing” Initiative because they allege it will cause thousands of public servants to be laid off from their jobs.

The City of Burien wants to know what its citizens think of this, pro or con, and are inviting all to come speak up at a public meeting on Monday, Sept. 14 28th, at 7pm. The meeting will be held at Burien City Hall, 400 SW 152nd Street, 1st Floor.

According to the description prepared by the Washington Secretary of State:

This measure would limit growth in state revenues deposited in funds subject to the state expenditure limit, and limit growth in county and city revenues deposited into the county and city current expense funds. The limit would be adjusted based on annual growth in inflation and population. The limit also would apply to revenues transferred out of these funds. The limit would exclude voter-approved revenue increases. Revenues above the limit would reduce property tax levies.

The “Voters Want More Choices” website argues “For” I-1033 with these arguments:

  • In the state of Washington, “property taxes are completely out-of-control” wiht “huge levy increases, skyrocketing valuation increases, massive rate hikes. It’s obscene and unsustainable. Struggling working families and fixed-income senior citizens are being taxed out of their homes.”
  • “We don’t want Washington to be a state where only rich people can afford to buy and own a home.”
  • “Citizens desperately need property tax relief, especially during these tough economic times.”
  • “The overall tax burden imposed by state government, counties, and cities is growing exponentially.”
  • Currently, “there is no cap, no ceiling, no lid, no maximum, no limit on how much they can take from us. There’s simply no way that citizens can afford to have government continue to grow at an uncontrolled rate.”
  • “The Lower Property Taxes Initiative I-1033 puts a reasonable cap on our overall tax burden, requiring excess tax revenues collected about the cap used to substantially reduce property tax bills.”

Arguments made “Against” I-1033 by its opponents include:

  • The concern that it could reduce critical public services at the state and local levels.
  • Arguing that the historical cost increase of public spending in areas such as health care and education has exceeded the consumer price index, opponents of I-1033 say that if I-1033 passes, spending in these areas will not be able to grow at the levels they have historically grown at.
  • The belief that government services will be reduced each year from the previous year.
  • It is problematic because “The initiative is designed to lock in all the budget cuts that state and municipal governments are currently making, thus potentially killing thousands of jobs in the years to come.”
  • “[T]his initiative is exact opposite of real reform. Instead of fixing what’s broken, it would make all of our lives worse. Much worse. We need real tax reform that improves stability and fairness in our tax system”.
  • “Property taxes already have strict limitations on growth and levels. The result of these has been particularly hard on local governments, who have limited ability to raise other taxes.”
  • “Shifting from the property tax to other tax sources makes our tax system less stable because property taxes are one of the least volatile revenue sources we have.”
  • “The reality is that the whole concept of contrived, artificial limits on revenue is completely unreasonable to begin with. In practice such limits have been utterly unworkable. Other states, like Colorado, have imposed them and seen their quality of life suffer drastically as a result.”

Here’s the official release from the Burien cityfolk:

CITIZENS INVITED TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 1033 CONCERNS STATE, COUNTY AND CITY REVENUE

The Burien City Council will be considering a resolution regarding Initiative Measure No. 1033 concerns state, county and city revenue, on September 28, 2009. All interested parties who are for or against the ballot measure are invited to speak at the Council Meeting on Monday, September 14, 2009, at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held at Burien City Hall, 400 SW 152nd Street, 1st Floor.

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The City of Burien strives to provide alternate communication opportunities. Please contact the City Clerk’s office, 206/248-5504, twenty-four hours prior to the meeting for assistance.

This is a great opportunity to come share your thoughts with your elected officials, so be sure to mark you calendars for what will surely be a lively discussion.

To read I-1033 in its entirety, click here for a PDF.

Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.

9 replies on “UPDATE: Burien Wants Its Citizens To Share Their Thoughts On Initiative 1033 On Mon., Sept. 28th”

  1. Short of funds? Hmm….

    Well let’s see if we can find a few dollars lying around here and there within the Burien 2008 CAFR – http://www.burienwa.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=969

    Sections 5.4 through 6.10 would be a good place to start. A million or two could be skimmed off the top between those pages without to much difficulty.

    Then maybe a look through the WA Local Government Investment Pool.
    http://www.tre.wa.gov/documents/comp_annFinReport08.pdf

    The City of Burien had a mere $17,208,083.27 invested there in 2008 (page 43) and King County $360,100,658.44 Again, short of funds? They appear to be cash and income rich to me…

    But then that is what happens when you give a kid carte blanch to write his own allowance each week, he takes more than he should and wants more..

    The people better look closely at what is there already, what is being done with it, and find out if a financial shell game is being played out to their disadvantage..

    You were not intended to look due to the money and perpetual elevating of control over you evolved, but it is time that you do look even though you have been kept in the dark for so many years as fortunes big and small were made and spent at your expense and done so primarily without your cognitive thought applied that would have stayed the expansion..

  2. So Walter (no-relationship-to and non-resident-of) Burien thinks that King County and the City of Burien are “… cash and income rich”?! This guy from Arizona knows as much about municipal finance and how to read a financial statement as he does grammar and the French language (it’s carte blanchE). He trolls websites looking for ways to promote his whack-a-doodle websites (just click his name above or google him) filled with paranoid delusions about government malfeasance, dark conspiracy theories about just about everything including swine flu being created, patented and released by the government, and calling for all civil government to be suspended. Now there’s some credibility. What a ma-roon. These guys should find an island somewhere and then they can then run their own little asylum.

    1. Joe:

      Per the comments you made: Your brain reminds me of a pea rolling down a four lane highway. Let me take a guess, a government employee? Possibly an attorney?

      The issue is not how expressive you can be in falsely slandering me, the issue is the “Wealth Held” by your local governments. Your misdirection tactics of attacking the messenger hoping the reader of your tripe may be complete idiots that give one shred of credence to your comments won’t get over on the majority these days. That type of tactic has been worn out by government crap for way to long.

      Several individuals from the City of Burien and County of King have already informed me this week that they are starting local government study groups between their friends and neighbors to get a clear look and understanding of their local government CAFRs and also hopefully some true accountability.

      So Joe PO in the wind and don’t get to wet.. You won’t get a towel to dry off with from this end.

      1. “Several individuals from the City of Burien and County of King have already informed me this week that they are starting local government study groups …”

        Oh really? Right, I’ll bet. So if you’re all about transparency and accountability, shouldn’t we all know who they are? Or do these “study groups” only exist in your obviously fevered imagination. Please Water, do tell.

        1. Joe:

          I would be more than happy to pass your name(full name); address; and telephone number on to them. Please provide that information in your next reply.

          It is up to them to contact you. So far you have only shown yourself to be an obfuscating pis mouth misdirecting off topic of the true wealth held by your local governments as shown in their Annual Financial Reports, so I personally do not know how you could contribute to the groups. But you never know, they might want a token shill at one of their meetings just for the entertainment value.

          If you are not willing to provide your compete name and contact information, I and the rest of the readers of this site I am sure will understand..

          Walter

  3. I am sorry but if Tim Eyman is involved with an initive, I am already suppicous of it. I don’t like the fact that we pay so much in taxes, but then I don’t like the fact that I pay taxes just like those in Bellevue and our county can’t afford to keep their parks open.

  4. Initiative 1033 is a freeze on public spending.

    The Washington State Office of Financial Management says that Initiative 1033 would severely impact state and local government.

    In their words “The initiative reduces state general fund revenues that support education, social, health and environmental services; and general government activities by an estimated $5.9 billion by 2015. The initiative also reduces general fund revenues that support public safety, infrastructure and general government activities by an estimated $694 million for counties and $2.1 billion for cities by 2015”

    This is the impact Tim doesn’t want you to see. Read it yourself.

    see http://ofm.wa.gov/initiatives/i-1033_fiscal_impact.pdf

    Vote No on I-1033 this November 3, 2009!

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