Property Tax Swap

Inslee refers to a "property tax swap" in his ad.   Inslee pretends this is a tax increase that Rob McKenna created.  In fact, the tax swap to make school funding uniform was ordered by the Washington State Supreme Court.  Inslee is lying.

The tax swap is a geeky accounting idea to straighten out the accounting practices in Olympia and the various county governments. Current practice has counties governments playing with money going to Olympia, and Olympia fondling money bound for the counties.  By reducing bureaucratic red tape, the "swap", when enacted, should direct taxes to their final destinations more efficiently at less cost.

I tried to link to the Inslee advertizement directly, so you could see for yourself.  But Inslee's website,  propertytaxswap.com/, doesn't allow that.  Neither does the Inslee page on YouTube.  Inslee is caught lying and is only ramping up the rhetoric instead of coming clean.  Inslee has set himself against the State Court and public schools.

Update 10/30/12 Inslee upped his lie in a subsequent ad, saying that McKenna will increase property taxes on 47% of property owners. This approximately the effect of the legislature's property tax swap, if the legislature enacts it. Statewide, any tax increase will fall mainly on the wealthier neighborhoods, and there will be a comparably reduction in less well-to-do areas.

This is all a side effect of the tax swap proposal. The main purpose of the tax swap is to stabilize public school funding, and reduce or eliminate the need for local levies. Given that local levies can get voted down, the legislature's idea is that school districts the less reliant on local levies. This comes about because our state constitution requires the legislature to make public education its first priority (Washington State Constitution, Article 9, Section 1: "It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders....")

McKenna's ad tells the truth.



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KING television, normally a reliable "Democratic" Party supporter, had to correct Inslee's lies.  KING's writer Robert Mak called Inslee's stand "ironic."

Let's get straight talk from Olympia.  Vote for Rob McKenna for governor.