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Tax cuts and I-601 leave state surplus at about $1 billion
Tax cuts and I-601 leave state surplus at about $1 billion
Do you have questions about I-695? Ask us and we'll try to answer them in
our coverage of the statewide ballot measure between now and Election Day Nov.
2.
I-695 would abolish the state motor vehicle excise tax and replace it with
a flat $30-per-vehicle fee. It also would require a public vote on future tax
and fee increases by state and local governments.
Q: How much of a surplus does the state have, and how much has it grown, year
by year?
- Kyle Chestnut, Tacoma
A: The state has almost $1 billion in its general fund savings accounts -
$533 million in an emergency reserve account and $466.5 million in another savings
account. That compares with a $10 billion annual operating budget.
It takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to spend any of the money
in the emergency reserve but only a simple majority vote to dip into the other
savings account.
Here's how much money the state had in savings at the end of the five two-year
budgets the Legislature approved this decade:
* 1991-93: $334 million
* 1993-95: $559 million
* 1995-97: $513 million
* 1997-99: $999 million
* 1999-01: $1.004 billion
The 1999-2001 budget year runs from July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2001. The
figure for that two-year period is an estimate.
The total savings could have grown to about $4.5 billion by mid-2001 if not
for two things:
* Initiative 601, the 1993 voter-approved measure that limited state general
fund spending, says that once the amount of money in the emergency reserve account
reaches 5 percent of the biennial budget, the surplus automatically goes into
a fund to pay for school construction. That 5 percent figure would be $1 billion
for a $20 billion budget.
* The state has cut taxes since 1994. The cumulative total of those tax cuts
through mid-2001 is estimated at $3.5 billion. Instead of going into reserves
or into school construction, that money has gone to tax cuts.
Q: How many people will be losing their jobs statewide if I-695 passes?
- Petrina L. Walker, Olympia
A: No one knows the answer to that question, and the answer won't be known
until after the election.
I-695 will result in a loss of $743 million in tax revenues collected by state
and local governments in 2000.
Pierce Transit is telling its employees that as many as 150 of them could
be laid off if I-695 passes. The campaign against I-695 is running radio ads
that suggest as many as 1,000 police officers statewide could lose their jobs.
What's still unknown is how much the Legislature will dip into its $1 billion
reserves to try to replenish money lost by local governments, how much cities,
counties and transit districts will dip into their own reserves to avoid layoffs,
and whether state and local governments will ask voters to approve increases
in other taxes to make up for the loss.
Those are individual decisions that will be made at each level of government
- the Legislature and city and county councils, transit district boards of directors
and public health department directors.
Q: Can an initiative be modified once it has been approved by the people?
-ÊJ. C. Smith, Seattle
A: The Legislature can change an initiative. But to do so within the first
two years after it takes effect would require a two-thirds vote by the House
and Senate.
After two years, an initiative can be modified by a simple majority vote in
each chamber.
* Send your questions to state government and transportation reporter Joseph
Turner at 253-597-8436, joe.turner@mail.tribnet.com or The News Tribune,
PO Box 11000, Tacoma 98411. Please be sure to include your name (spell it, please)
and telephone number so that we can reach you if necessary.
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SIDEBAR
ON THE INTERNET
An archive of I-695 questions and answers can be found on The News Tribune's
web site, www.tribnet.com/news/I695/
10/12/1999
