There is nothing in I-695 that prevents the people of Seattle from increasing their own taxes as much as they want to provide subsidies for whatever they like. If they can get the votes, they are free to tax their way to abundance and harmony. It can be the dictatorship of the proletariate. Not all the buildings in Seattle are yet occupied by government bureaucrats so there is plenty room for growth. Just think of all the good and wonderful services that government could provide if only it had enough "revenue". Go for it, Seattle!

Meanwhile, the more responsible of us will be trying to reduce our taxes since even with the 2% cut, we are still way overtaxed.

-- Art Rathjen (liberty@coastaccess.com), November 16, 1999

Answers

The trouble is, Seattle will undoubtedly find a way to include the rest of King County (especially Bellevue) in their newfound richness of extreme taxation!

-- Albert Fosha (AFosha@aol.com), November 16, 1999.

"The trouble is, Seattle will undoubtedly find a way to include the rest of King County (especially Bellevue) in their newfound richness of extreme taxation! " Actually, there is a long corporate history of this, the three tries at getting the Kingdome approved (well, one try for SeattleDome and two for Kingdome) are an excellent example of this. The last (successful) attempt was a bait and switch, approved only after there was agreement that it would NOT be placed in Pioneer Square, unless an independent commission said that was the best place. Seattle promptly reneged on that agreement when the commission came up with nine better places to put it. Talk to the people in Tukwila for a current example, they are getting taxed for a light rail to bring people AROUND Southcenter but not bring shoppers or employees to Southcenter. This corporate history was the main reason that the Sound Transit proposal was approved ONLY after a provision was placed in the proposal requiring the money spent in each area to be used for services within that area. Seattle has a long history of being the "fast rat" that winds up with all the cheese, to the detriment of the rest of King County, not to mention Pierce and Snohomish.

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), November 16, 1999.

Actually, Seattle is relatively unimpacted by this, as of yet.

http://komotv.com/news/nindexaction.asp?ID=2612

The city of Seattle may be spared any pain from I-695. The city will lose a whopping $20 million, but the economy is so strong and property values rising so fast, theres more than enough income to make up the difference. In fact, the city council is considering nearly $5 million in new spending -- including a skate board park, self-cleaning public toilets, farmers markets and the Seattle Chinese Garden. The good news may only be temporary though. "Let's face it; we are very fortunate right now," said City Councilwoman Jan Drago. "But unless there is a big legislative fix, it will hit us at some point."

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), November 17, 1999.