PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Assessor Jack Westerman III told county Administrator Philip Morley that Initiative 1033 would have far worse county-government consequence than the top county executive was reporting.
“I think you are understating this dramatically in its potential impacts,” Westerman told Morley, who addressed the county commissioners Monday, saying tax initiative advocate Tim Eyman’s I-1033 would “repeatedly and permanently shrink” the county’s revenue base in bad and good times, and again in a subsequent recession.
The county administrator figures the county already faces a revenue shortfall of $2.025 million based on county department leaders’ budget requests, while Westerman said he believes that figure could be significantly more.
Under I-1033 the state, counties and cities cannot raise taxes, raise fees or jack up assessments without voter approval.
I-1033, before statewide voters in the Nov. 3 general election, limits growth in county and city revenues deposited into their expense funds.
General fund revenue is limited to the rate of inflation and population growth.
The initiative creates a “Lower Property Tax Account” to which revenues above the limit would be deposited the next year to lower the following year’s assessment to lower property taxes.
Some county and city general fund revenues would be excluded under I-1033.
“I-1033 would make our budget choices that are already difficult even harder,” Morley said, adding that services such as non-mandated services such as parks and recreation might have to be eliminated.
Contacted Monday, Eyman called the county’s concerns “classic Chicken Little sky is falling stuff.”
“The short answer is that voters have learned that pre-election scare tactics never match up with post election realities, especially when it comes to tax initiatives,” Eyman said.
Eyman cited Initiative 747 approved by voters eight years ago that held government agencies to a 1 percent annual property tax increase unless the voters approved an increase.
“The only way is to ask voter permission at the ballot box and that’s what’s freaking them out,” Eyman said. “Our initiative tended to not be well embraced by our politicians. This is not unusual, but this is exactly what they did with the 1 percent limit.
“And they made is worse by abiding by it. They made a 1 percent limit work. Certainly they can make this [I-1033] limit work.”
Morley listed already-made county budget cuts, including 11 layoffs and positions left unfilled, along with cutting remaining staff hours to 36. Last month Public Health closed Environmental Health on Fridays, cut Public Health nurse support to many mothers of newborns and cut family planning clinics by one day a week.
The county on Sept. 28 announced it would close four parks and cut maintenance to six parks this year and cut maintenance to six more parks in 2010.
Cutback options
Figuring that the county would lose at least $458,000 from 2011 to 2014, Morley said he was already coming up with cutback options during the year following in anticipation of voter approval of 1033, such as cuts the county’s $184,000 general fund contribution to the Washington State University extension for master gardeners, clean water programs and youth programs.
Other cuts considered includes community health programs such as Women, Infants and Children and family support services, cuts to senior programs, possibly cutting five deputies or corrections officers and seven staffers in other county departments.
Further cuts two years after the initiative passed, should it pass, could bring cuts to Port Townsend and Gardiner senior programs, about 1.7 deputies or corrections officers and 2.3 full-time staff a year.
Informed of the county administrator’s concerns, Eyman was nonplussed.
“It’s going around. A lot of people are losing their jobs in the private sector, too,” he said.
“If they had just restrained yourselves during the good times you would not be in this fix. We think that is incredibly critical in the middle of a recession that they should not be raising people’s taxes.
“Average taxpayers and businesses are dealing with real reductions in their incomes so government should do the same.”
Eyman’s message
Westerman during the county commissioners I-1033 briefing with Morley on Monday said he understood why Initiative 695 led to flat $30 car registration tab fees and why voters approved I-747 to limit government property tax increases to an annual 1 percent.
It was elected officials were “too greedy,” Westerman said.
“I don’t hold that Tim Eyman is the devil incarnate,” Westerman said, adding that Eyman merely “tilled fertile soil” with angry taxpayers.
But Westerman said the county would be held to 2009 tax levels under I-1033, the lowest year of tax revues “in the past 20 years.”
The losses to the county in 2011 could be far more than $2 million, including interest, Westerman said.
Morley said in November he will present his recommendation for a balanced budget and the commissioners will conduct a public hearing for the 2010 budget Dec. 7, with the commissioners adopting it before year’s end.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com