News - Elections

POSTED: Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009

County Council votes down Bonner property tax proposal

A proposal to restrict the Whatcom County Council's ability to raise property taxes was killed by the council on Tuesday, June 23.

In a 4-3 vote, County Council members voted down former KGMI radio personality Brett Bonner's proposed ordinance, which would have required a public vote on certain tax increases.

Council members Council members Barbara Brenner, Ward Nelson and Sam Crawford voted in favor of the proposal.

Crawford also lost a 4-3 vote on his proposal to place Bonner's ordinance directly on the ballot in November.

The council majority, in voting against Bonner's ordinance, cited the fact that they're elected by the public to spend a lot of time on complex issues affecting the county and make tough decisions on those issues, including raising taxes if need be.

The minority in favor of the proposal all said that if the government prepared enough, and explained to the public why a tax increase was needed, then residents would, and have, supported such requests via public votes.

"When I first learned about this initiative, I thought great, you know what, it makes sense, it's easy, it's the voice of the people and I would support it," said Councilwoman Laurie Caskey-Schreiber, who voted against the ordinance. "Then I started really thinking about it and I thought, supporting this is the easy way out. Regardless of whether or not it's illegal ... my problem is that you are taking away the county's ability to engage in adaptive management."

But Nelson said it's an issue of trust.

"I believe that it's a partnership that we have here, and not an obligation to make these decisions in a vacuum," Nelson said. "I will always maintain that trust with the public."

Council members against the proposal also pointed out that the council has rarely raised taxes in the past 12 years and needed to do so due to state and federal mandates, such as cleaning up Lake Whatcom.

"I think you guys elect us to represent you and make the decisions, and you certainly have the right to govern by when we come up for re-election every four years and you don't like the decisions we make, toss us out," said Councilman Carl Weimer.

Council members Bob Kelly and Seth Fleetwood also voted against the proposed ordinance.

Bonner said after the votes that he was "disappointed but not surprised" that the ordinance didn't pass.

"The very people who voted to raise taxes last year without a vote of the people didn't allow us to vote (on future tax increases)," he said.

Bonner was referring to a one-tenth of 1 percent increase on sales tax for mental health support and a 3-cents-per-$1,000 property tax increase in assessed value, raising $940,000, to pay for water-related projects mandated by the state and federal government. The money, however, was gutted for those projects because of the massive January 2009 flooding that hit the county, causing major damage in need of repair.

Under Bonner's proposal, County Council members would have had to seek voter approval to take "banked capacity," which is a tax increase they decided not to take in past years but have reserved the right to take if needed. Under state law, taxing districts can increase property taxes by only 1 percent per year plus banked capacity.

Though widely discussed in the community, council chambers were less than packed for the public hearing on the issue on the same night that a major public hearing was also scheduled for various urban growth area proposals offered up by local jurisdictions.

Those who spoke in favor of Bonner's property-tax-restricting ordinance often took aim at a legal memo written by County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Randy Watts. The memo stated that not only was the proposed ordinance inappropriate for an initiative, but state law trumps local laws on such taxes.

"It really bothers me that the county attorney is looking for ways to thwart (the people's process)," said Larry Helm, who is the vice chairman of the Whatcom County Republican Party. "(Watts) doesn't have any right to tell people that their signatures don't count. Their signatures count."

Bonner himself did a sort of point-by-point discussion of various arguments made against the initiative in the media and on local blogs, arguing that the ordinance was "pro-public input, not anti-tax."

"Most people understand that services cost money, but they want the government to explain the need," Bonner added. "There's been a lot of rhetoric from certain political interest groups on this. When did giving the people the right to vote become a negative partisan issue?"

Those who didn't support the ordinance argued that the council had been elected by county residents to make decisions.

"Legalities aside, I would prefer that taxing decisions be made by elected officials who are entrusted with the responsibility of making decisions of the long-term interest of the public," said resident Wendy Harris. "I do not believe our community is best served when certain tax decisions are made by individuals who are making the decisions only out of their own self-interests," she said.

Harris said that perhaps more taxes should be paid locally to support public facilities and services that the public has demanded to maintain the high quality of life in Whatcom County.

Resident Lincoln Rutter said he opposed the ordinance "at a time when our nation is sailing in unchartered economic waters."

"I share the frustration of many people about taxes. But I believe people are focused on the wrong problem," he said, adding that developers should be paying more in impact fees for their projects.