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I-695 - Voters could veto all tax increases; many worried
I-695 -- Voters Could Veto All Tax Increases; Many Worried
Published in the Herald-Republic on Sunday, October 17, 1999
By TOM ROEDER
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
The biggest government change brought by Initiative 695 would have little to
do with license tabs.
The change is tied to the cost of aspirin at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital,
the cost of a Mabton dog license, and the cost of an overdue book fine at the
Yakima Valley Regional Library.
The second half of Initiative 695 would put everything from sales tax rates
to the price of whiskey at state liquor stores in the hands of voters. The initiative
requires elections to decide the fate of any tax or fee increase from local
or state government.
"It puts that power in the hands of taxpayers," said initiative sponsor Tim
Eyman, a 1984 graduate of West Valley High School who has found political fame
by sponsoring I-695 and Initiative 200, which removed affirmative action from
state law books.
A dual-purpose measure, I-695 would slash what the state charges for license
tabs to $30, saving most car owners about $140 per year. The cut comes from
eliminating the motor-vehicle excise tax, which adds about $750 million per
year to state and local coffers.
The second half of I-695 requires voter approval of all tax and fee increases
from state and local government, hitting everything from sewer boards and city
councils to mammoth state agencies.
"It's job security for me," joked Kittitas County Auditor Beverly Allenbaugh.
Eyman said the second part of I-695 would prevent lawmakers from raising taxes
and fees to compensate for the license tab cut.
"They are not going to take more money from people without asking permission,"
Eyman said.
But government officials say Eyman's plan would have vast fallout.
"This appears to be the initiative of unintended consequences," Kittitas Valley
Community Hospital administrator Eric Jensen said.
He said the initiative would put all the minutiae involved in running a hospital,
from bedpans to surgery, up for a vote. That means giving voters control of
aspirin prices at his hospital, Jensen said.
Kittitas Valley Community Hospital is operated by a local hospital district,
one of more than 1,000 small government entities that would be hit by I-695.
The hospital, which admits 1,600 patients per year, is paid for almost entirely
by fees billed to patients and insurance companies. The 36-bed hospital provides
services ranging from eye surgery to critical care. The hospital is dwarfed
by facilities like Providence Yakima Medical Center with 271 beds.
A hospital levy provides only $3,145 per year of the hospital's $16.7 million
operating cost.
As part of a local taxing district, anything billed by the hospital to patients
or insurance companies is a government fee, including aspirin. The problem is
that the prices of aspirin and the thousands of other medications dispensed
in the hospital's pharmacy increase frequently, Jensen said. Room rates and
the cost of medical procedures change, too.
To raise those prices under I-695, Jensen said he would have to ask voters
for permission.
"I don't know what we are going to do," he said. "Throwing all these things
on the ballot would be ridiculous."
An aspirin election would cost the hospital district as much as $20,000, Allenbaugh
said.
"They would lose more money than they would gain," Allenbaugh said.
Jensen said he doesn't know if the hospital could use new life-saving drugs
for patients without asking voters to set a price.
"It gets confusing," he said. "We are going to wind up really educating voters
on the intricacies of hospital financing if this thing passes."
The hospital is just a starting point.
"We would have to hold a public vote every time we want to raise the price
of milk and school lunches," said Superintendent Larry Petry of the Yakima School
District. "I don't know what that would cost."
Petry said school districts would be relatively unscathed by the first half
of the initiative --they don't get license tab money. But the second part would
force schools to put all of their fee increases before voters.
School taxes are already approved by voters in the form of levies.
Yakima County Commissioner Jim Lewis said having voters rule on all fees would
represent a shift away from traditional representative government.
"It's total democracy," he said, noting the county would have to hold an election
to change garbage dumping fees.
Eyman said the aspirin and milk examples exaggerate what the initiative would
regulate.
"Right now they are using the broadest possible interpretation of the initiative
to accomplish their agenda," he said. "After I-695 passes, they will change
their tune, and none of this stuff will be brought up for a vote."
Eyman said if government agencies do put fees to a vote, they will likely do
it all at once, as a single ballot question, rather than asking voters to approve
each item.
Yakima County Auditor Doug Cochran said countywide elections can cost as much
as $100,000.
"That's money they have to pay if their ballot item wins or loses," he said.
"And if you consider the success rates, it could take a couple of elections
to get something through."
Mabton City Councilman David Conradt said voters probably will support taxes
and fees for his town.
"If they support the city the way they have supported the schools, we will
be fine," he said. "But you never know how things will work out."
Sen. Harold Hochstatter, who earlier this summer became the first state legislator
to come out publicly in support of I-695, said a lack of clarity in the second
part of the initiative likely will be decided by the courts.
"There is a lot of supposed pain out there that isn't going to happen," Hochstatter
said.
The Moses Lake Republican, who has called I-695 a "wake-up call" for government,
admitted the initiative could be seen as flawed, but said it is no worse than
the legislation it replaces.
"This is a mess that the Legislature made," he said.
House Republican leader, Rep. Barbara Lisk of Zillah said many groups are questioning
the legality of I-695's second half.
"The state Constitution puts taxing power in the hands of the Legislature,"
she said.
Lisk said the Legislature could amend the initiative to remove fees from a
public vote.
"If the support is there, we can go in and change it," Lisk said.
Eyman said lawmakers would be committing political suicide by ignoring the
will of voters and changing the initiative.
Cochran said he is concerned voters will become overwhelmed by ballots loaded
with minor tax and fee increases.
"It could become so complicated and convoluted that I don't think the public
wants to spend the time to understand what they could be voting on," Cochran
said. "It puts all of us as voters in a position to shoot from the hip rather
than studying the issues."
Jensen said the hospital district may have to short-circuit the initiative
to change fees.
"I guess if it passes, we will have to look at raising fees before it takes
effect," Jensen said.
