OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Freedom Foundation on Tuesday filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in support of a lawsuit filed by the city of Olympia against the campaign supporting a ballot initiative that would impose the state’s only income tax on local residents.
The initiative, which qualified last month for a spot on the November general election ballot, would tax only residents earning more than $200,000 to fund college scholarships for needy Olympia students. But the measure’s regressive nature puts it at odds with both the Washington State Constitution and several court cases.
“The state constitution is unequivocal – an income tax can’t treat people differently such as when a tax kicks in at a certain income level,” said Freedom Foundation Managing Attorney Greg Overstreet. “We were concerned that neither the city nor campaign presented legal analysis to the court on the constitutional issues, so we filed a brief that offers a constitutional perspective.”
The city of Olympia is simply asking the court to issue an order allowing it to not put the local initiative on the ballot because it violates a state law preventing cities from imposing their own income tax.
The Freedom Foundation’s brief, however, cites Article VII, Section I of the Washington State Constitution, which states, “… (all) taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax.”
Further, at least three subsequent court challenges have affirmed that a tax cannot be imposed on one group of Washingtonians but not another.
Overstreet said the authors of the Olympia initiative are using the measure as a test case with an eye toward imposing a statewide tax in the future. But two obstacles stand in their way – the voters and the law.
“People seldom vote to tax themselves,” he said, “but they can sometimes be persuaded tax someone else – like ‘evil rich people.’ A Washington income tax is clearly unconstitutional unless it’s a true flat tax on all income, which the proposed Olympia initiative certainly is not.”
The case is scheduled to be heard by Judge Mary Sue Wilson in Thurston County Superior Court on Aug. 25.
