Tag Archives: Tim Eyman’s Push Polls

Voters across Washington saying yes to revenue for essential public services in 2017 local elections

Election Postmortem

This morning, serial public disclosure law violator and disgraced initiative promoter Tim Eyman sent out an email claiming that the outcomes of this year’s crop of I-960 mandated advisory votes push polls show that Washington voters are in an anti-tax mood.

“Voters last night had the right to vote on this year’s crop of tax increases. And they rejected all of them,” Eyman wrote.

Actually, they didn’t reject any of them — because none of Eyman’s push polls are legally binding. The outcomes of the push polls are completely meaningless and lawmakers are free to ignore them as they have in the past. The questions voters saw on their ballots were designed by Eyman to prompt voters to vote a certain way, which makes the results totally worthless for the purposes of measuring public opinion.

What is legally binding, though, are the results in the 45th Legislative District, where Democratic Senator-elect Manka Dhingra has about a ten point lead over her Republican rival Jinyoung Lee Englund.

Dhingra is winning having been attacked by Republicans as a tax and spend librul for months. Dhingra’s victory will put an end to Republican management of the state Senate and open the door for consideration of sorely needed progressive ideas.

Republicans — including Eyman — tried to set the stage for a Jinyoung Englund win by launching a “Manka Means Taxes” campaign that encompassed mailers, robocalls, and even yard signs. Tim Eyman soft-launched the campaign in a series of late spring emails in which he harshly denounced the Democratic candidate.

“Manka Dhingra, is just another income-tax-loving, car-tab-gouging, Sound Transit Seattle Democrat,” sneered Eyman in one of the emails, sent on May 31st, previewing what would become a common refrain in forthcoming Republican-financed ads.

But the ads backfired spectacularly. Dhingra went on to win easily in the August Top Two election. Leading up to the general election, Republicans proceeded to spend millions of dollars more attacking her, but Dhingra once again has a comfortable lead over Englund.

Also legally binding are the results of dozens of local propositions in communities across Washington State. Returns for these ballot measures show voters want to invest in Washington’s future.

In community after community, voters are saying yes to proposals to increase revenue, sustain revenue, or authorize bonds to pay for essential public services.

For example:

  • In King County, a proposal to renew and expand the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy is overwhelmingly passing, with a yes vote of 66.06%, despite a call by KVI talk show hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur for its rejection.
  • In Kitsap County, a proposal to raise funds for maintenance and operations of the Kitsap Regional Library system (which includes nine locations) has the support of 62.64% of voters participating so far. In a press release issued back in July, library trustees explained they submitted the property tax levy request to voters because Tim Eyman’s I-747 has been slowly starving the library system of money.
  • In Clallam County, voters are approving (59.69% yes vote) a proposal to raise the sales tax to fund juvenile justice services. “Juvenile Justice’s responsibilities have expanded in recent years beyond simply managing truancy and incarceration for juveniles,” noted proponents in their voter’s pamphlet statement. “Its staff treats mental health, drug and alcohol problems; arranges for employment training and education; manages a teen court, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), Child in Need of Services and community-service diversion projects.”
  • In Mukilteo, where Tim Eyman lives, voters are currently saying yes (52.68%) to a proposal to increase the sales tax to invest in street, sidewalk, trails and bicycle improvement projects identified in the City of Mukilteo Transportation Improvement Program. “We can’t afford to delay because investing now in our streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes will prevent big bills later,” proponents argued. Eyman was the sole author of the opposition statement in the voter’s pamphlet, but his arguments are being rejected by a majority of his neighbors who have weighed in so far.
  • In nearby Mountlake Terrace, voters are backing a proposal to authorize bonds pledged to property tax revenue to construct a new city hall and expand the police station by a two-to-one margin (67.07% in favor).

In addition, a large plethora of levies and levy lid lifts to fund public safety are doing well, with only few exceptions.

The threshold for passage for some of these propositions is a 60% yes vote and a minimum turnout of 40% of the jurisdiction’s electorate.

Below is a list of public safety levy propositions currently receiving at least a majority vote of support in key counties throughout Washington State. To pass, a levy must meet any supermajority or minimum turnout requirements applicable to it upon certification of the election, which will take place on November 28th for this cycle. Note that most levies on this list are currently receiving a YES vote well in excess of 60%.

In King County:

  • YES vote for Vashon Island Fire And Rescue Proposition No. 1 Authorizing Restoration of Previous Property Tax Levy Rate: 64.87%
  • YES vote for King County Fire Protection District 20 Proposition No. 1 Levy of General Tax for Maintenance and Operations: 68.88%
  • YES vote for King County Fire Protection District 43 Proposition No. 1 Authorizing Restoration of Previous Property Tax Levy Rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of Assessed Valuation: 57.16%

In Pierce County:

  • YES vote for DuPont Proposition No. 1 Renewal of Six-Year Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Levy: 83.53%
  • YES vote for South Prairie Proposition No. 1 Property Tax Levy Proposition for Emergency Medical Services (Reauthorizing the Previously Existing Levy): 76.60%
  • YES vote for Pierce Fire Protection District No. 5 Proposition No. 1 Six-Year Levy Lid Lift: 61.64%
  • YES vote for Fire Protection District No. 18 Proposition No. 1 Excess Property Tax Levy for Maintenance and Operation Expenses: 65.42%
  • YES vote for Fire Protection District No. 21 Proposition No. 1 Six-Year Levy Lid Lift: 55.13%

In Snohomish County:

  • YES vote for Snohomish Fire District 10 Proposition No. 1 – Emergency Medical Services Property Tax Levy: 70.26%
  • YES vote for Fire District 17 Proposition No. 1 – Lid Lift Restoring EMS Property Tax Levy: 66.49%
  • YES vote for Fire District 25 Proposition No. 1 – Re-Authorizing of Regular Property Tax Levy: 70.80%
  • YES vote for Lake Stevens Fire Proposition No. 1 – Lid Lift Restoring EMS Property Tax Levy: 63.81%
  • YES vote for Bothell Urban Emergency Medical Services District Proposition No. 1 – Emergency Medical Services Tax Equalization Levy: 66.99%

In Spokane County:

  • YES vote for Town of Spangle Proposition No. 1 Fire Protection Service Excess Levy: 85.37%
  • YES vote for Town of Spangle Proposition No. 2 Police Protection Service Excess Levy: 82.50%

In Clark County:

  • YES vote for Washougal Proposition No. 7 Emergency Medical Services Regular Property Tax Levy: 66.90%
  • YES vote for Clark Fire Protection District No. 3 Proposition No. 2 Proposition Authorizing the Restoration of Existing Property Tax Levies: 61.54%

In Yakima County:

  • YES vote for Yakima Fire District #6 Proposition No. 1 Property Tax Levy for Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services: 72.02%

“Not every revenue request submitted to voters in this election is passing,” noted Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Executive Director Andrew Villeneuve. “But most of the levies we tallied are presently enjoying strong support.”

“The initial results of this election underscore that Washingtonians of all political stripes agree with the idea that we are stronger when we pool our resources… an idea that has served us well since statehood. By working together as taxpayers, we can afford infrastructure and services that enhance our communities’ quality of life.”

Tim Eyman rips state budget he previously called a “mega victory for taxpayers”

Rethinking and ReframingStatements & Advisories

This week, disgraced initiative promoter and serial public disclosure violator Tim Eyman appeared in front of the Snohomish County Council to assail Executive Dave Somers for proposing a modest property tax increase that would ensure the fast-growing county can meet its public safety needs. (The additional revenue Somers is seeking would avert cuts to law enforcement while also allowing five more sheriff’s deputies to be hired.)

During his remarks — a portion of which were aired on KIRO’s evening newscast — Eyman harshly denounced the Washington State Legislature for having raised property taxes on Snohomish County homeowners like him, telling the Council:

Taxpayers have been ravaged by Sound Transit and ST3. Skyrocketing car tab taxes, highest in the nation sales taxes, plus a massive new property tax. All of you have been hearing about the sticker shock from ST3. And then, just a few months later, just as taxpayers were trying to catch their breath, those taxpayers got ravaged by this year’s Legislature that compounded ST3’s burden by dramatically raising property taxes THROUGH THE ROOF.

Eyman has been railing all year against ST3, even though it was handily approved by voters in last November’s presidential election. But it wasn’t so long ago that Eyman was describing the agreement reached by legislators to keep state government open and steer more revenue into Washington’s public schools as “a mega victory for taxpayers”.

Here’s a longer excerpt from Eyman’s June 29th email:

The final budget deal is a mega-victory for taxpayers.

With tax-obsessed Jay Inslee as Governor and tax-salivating Democrats in charge of the House, our legislative successes aren’t measured by what proposals are passed but are instead measured by what proposals are blocked.  In this case, in the face of non-stop pressure by Inslee and the Dems to impose an income tax, capital gains tax, carbon tax, and business taxes, we worked really hard over the past six months and our efforts paid off: the GOP stopped them all.

Later on in the email, Eyman gave a nod of approval to the property tax increase that Senate Republicans insisted on as the budget’s revenue mechanism, saying: “The final watered-down levy swap lowers property taxes for most property owners.”

At no point in his email did Eyman criticize the Senate Republicans for having struck a deal with Democrats that resulted in higher property taxes for urban and suburban Washingtonians — even though he had harshly warned them not to pursue such a course of action just two years prior, during the 2015 legislative session.

In fact, at the end of his June 29th commentary, Eyman called the budget a victory for taxpayers a second time: “So don’t just look at what’s included, look at what’s excluded to recognize the tremendous victory that taxpayers scored with this final budget deal.”

That was then. Summer has now given way to autumn, and Tim Eyman has a new position to go with the new season. What was previously a “mega victory for taxpayers” and a “tremendous victory that taxpayers scored” has somehow, inexplicably, morphed into a defeat… of the worst kind. Taxpayers “got ravaged by this year’s Legislature”, Eyman now says, declaring that property taxes have gone “through the roof”.

Apparently the levy swap wasn’t “watered down” after all.

And apparently it doesn’t matter that some Washingtonians are getting their property taxes cut because others will be seeing an increase… including Eyman, who resides in Mukilteo in the safely Democratic 21st Legislative District.

In addition to blasting the Legislature’s budget in front of the Snohomish County Council, Eyman is urging his followers and anyone who will listen to him to participate in his push polls (the “advisory votes”) by voting “Repealed” to signify their displeasure with the budget.

“Tell next year’s Legislature that you’re against them raising taxes by voting ‘REJECT’ on Tax Advisory Votes 16, 17, and 18 on the November statewide ballot,” Eyman wrote in an October 27th email, forgetting that his Initiative 960 actually dictates that the wording of the two choices in the push polls be “REPEALED” and “MAINTAINED” — as opposed to the more neutral and widely used dichotomy of APPROVED/REJECTED.

Unlike Tim Eyman, state lawmakers and local leaders like Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers have a responsibility to govern. Most of them understand a truth Eyman consistently refuses to acknowledge: Our state and its many vibrant communities could not function or even exist without taxes.

Taxes pay for police and fire departments, emergency medical response, schools, colleges, and universities, parks, pools, hospitals, roads, bridges, mass transit, water and sewer infrastructure, ports, courts, and countless other public services.

As our state’s population grows and as new neighborhoods are developed, the cost of public services goes up. And because we have an upside down tax code, state revenue isn’t keeping pace with the economic growth we’re experiencing. That’s hurting the ability of local governments and state agencies to meet the needs of the people.

Executive Somers recognizes that a growing county like Snohomish can’t afford to ignore the people’s needs. It’s why he’s proposed a modest property tax increase as part of his budget. But what Snohomish County and every jurisdiction across Washington really need is for the Legislature to pass legislation implementing progressive tax reform.

Local governments only have the options that state government gives them. If we start taking serious, meaningful steps to fix our upside down tax code, everyone will benefit.

Everyone, that is, except Tim Eyman. Tim needs our tax code to stay broken so that there will always be an appetite for his initiative factory’s destructive anti-tax initiatives. If lawmakers begin taking steps to make our tax code more equitable and just, that might just put the kibosh on Eyman’s already flailing business.

Tim Eyman’s “advisory votes” are really costly, deceptive, and unconstitutional push polls

Rethinking and ReframingStatements & AdvisoriesThreat Analysis

NPI’s Permanent Defense today released a new critical analysis of the “advisory votes” required by Tim Eyman’s Initiative 960.

Titled “Tim Eyman’s “advisory votes” are really costly, deceptive, and unconstitutional push polls“, it explains that the five “advisory votes” on this year’s ballot are an expensive sham intended to maliciously influence voters, not provide our state’s elected leaders with any useful feedback about the state budget.

“We have begun calling these advisory votes push polls, because that is what they really are,” said Northwest Progressive Institute founder Andrew Villeneuve, who has been organizing opposition to Tim Eyman’s initiatives for nearly twelve years.

“Like all push polls, Eyman’s advisory votes consist of loaded questions that suggest their own responses. Regardless of what the outcome of these five votes are, Eyman has already won, because he has succeeded in cluttering up the front side of every Washingtonian’s ballot with his false ‘government is oppressing you and overtaxing you’ message. Where is the counterpoint? Where is the context?”

“It’s not there. It’s not even in the voter’s pamphlet; I-960 forbids it. The taxpayers of this state are unknowingly paying for Tim Eyman’s propaganda to be marketed to them. It’s ridiculous.”

“In computing, there’s a saying I like: Garbage in, garbage out. What this means is, if you put bad data into a computer program, it will spit bad results out. The computer will unquestioningly process what you give it, even if the data is invalid or makes no sense. That’s analogous to what’s going on here. Some voters may skip the advisory vote questions because they find them confusing or rigged, but most will try to answer them because they want to vote a complete ballot, as every good citizen should. But since the advisory vote questions are no good, the results will also be no good. We are advising all state lawmakers – Democrats and Republicans alike – to draw no conclusions whatsoever from the results of these push polls, except that our tax dollars are being wasted yet again by a Tim Eyman initiative.”

The analysis – which looks at what voters see and what they don’t see when they come across the “advisory votes” – concludes that Eyman’s push polls are costly, deceptive, and unconstitutional. It notes that recent news stories about the advisory votes have failed to discuss the true extent of the cost of the push polls. The approximately $130,000 that was spent to put the push polls into the voter’s pamphlet (which Eyman has ironically called “chump change”) is just the beginning. In any election, there are costs associated with printing, mailing, and tallying ballots. Those costs will be higher in 2013 as a result of the inclusion of Eyman’s five push polls.

Recent news stories have also neglected to discuss the constitutionality of Eyman’s push polls; the analysis explains why NPI believes them to be unconstitutional.

Read the full analysis: Tim Eyman’s “advisory votes” are really costly, deceptive, and unconstitutional push polls

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