Dear friends and neighbors,
I’m looking forward to joining Rep. Bill Ramos and Rep. Lisa Callan for our town hall meetings this Saturday, March 16 in Maple Valley, Issaquah and North Bend. I hope to see you there.
One topic I expect to address is education funding and the need to keep local property tax levy caps in place. Washington needs to invest more in special education. I’m advocating that the state amp up its support so we don’t have to rely on local levies to pay for it.
We already had a huge property tax increase last year to fund K-12 education, which left a lot of people with sticker shock. Fortunately, an increase in state revenues allowed the Legislature to pass my bill giving Washingtonians a $400 million property tax cut in 2019, but that was a one-time-only measure.
Experience has shown that when levy caps are lifted, local property taxes go up. But funding special education is the state’s obligation. Local communities shouldn’t have to pony up funds to cover that obligation, especially when they could be using those funds for other important projects.
Moving forward, we have to be diligent and responsible in making budget decisions. But I’m against more taxes, period. And I’m highly confident that Washington has enough revenue growth that we can fund our budget without imposing new taxes.
If you agree – or if you disagree – please make sure to join us on Saturday to let us know what you think about this and other key issues facing our communities.
Best regards,
