Seattle moves ahead with its income tax effort headed to state Supreme Court
SPOKANE – It's a tale of the state's two largest cities, one in Eastern Washington and the other west of the Cascades.
While Western Washington's largest city (Seattle) continues to push for an income tax, Spokane voters are soundly rejecting the idea.
Spokane is largest city in Eastern Washington and the second largest in the state, second only to Seattle.
The preliminary tally in the Nov. 5 general election show Spokane Initiative No. 2019-2 banning any income tax in the city has 72.79% voter support.
The proposition, when election results are certified, adds language to the city charter banning the “City of Spokane from imposing an income tax on wages, salaries, investments, the sale of goods or services, or any other income source.”
“Make no mistake, voters in the state’s second largest city just sent a loud message to legislators across the state – we don’t want any income taxes in our state,” Washington Policy Center Eastern Washington Director Chris Cargill said this morning.
Washington Policy Center President Dann Mead Smith commended Spokane voters.
“Spokane voters just put a punctuation point on decades of statewide votes in which Washington voters said no to any form of an income tax,” Mead Smith said.
Meanwhile, Seattle's effort to impose an income tax on its residents is headed to the state Supreme Court after an appeals judge refused to reconsider a previous ruling that an income tax is prohibited under the state Constitution.
In 2018, the city of Seattle imposed an income tax on those making among the highest wages in the state.
The law was quickly appealed and has been tied up in courts.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, columnist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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