I tried to select Option 5: No - Because the inefficient suburban cops shouldn't be racking up all that overtime and their Republicant Sheriff needs to wake up and smell the urban revolt.

But it didn't work.

WA residents only pay 25 percent of the property taxes that some East Coast states do...states with the fabled "real cities" that Puget Sounders pine for.

If you want "real cities" start paying "real taxes" -- property taxes which tax people locally and equitably according to their participation in the community.

Everyone in the department should forgo raises. The County should stop enforcing drug possession laws except when drugs above marijuana are found when a person is already under arrest and they should give up on fighting prostitution. Unincorporated areas and cities should also pay their fair share for services.

After they do all that then we can talk about whether they need more money.

Thank Christ I live in Snohomish.

As far as I'm concerned, income tax is still on the table. Income tax to run the City of Seattle, King County, and the State of Washington.

Obviously the old guard think sales tax is the only source of revenue we have. And thinking like that is why things have become so bad, and why they go on making it worse. These people lack the imagination to do anything other than more of the same, digging the same hole deeper. Consider the sum total effort these people have expended year after year after year, for decades, fighting to pass higher and higher sales taxes. If they had put all that work into passing an income tax we'd have solved the perennial budget crisis years ago.

Income tax is an option. Income tax always has been an option. Stop wasting everyone's time fighting tooth and nail for more regressive sales taxes.

Isn't an income tax on people making over 200 grand going to be on the ballot? Or are we only talking seattle?

@5, income tax is going to fail, and fail hard. Regressive sales taxes are horrible, but there IS NO OTHER OPTION. People won't even vote to reduce their own taxes. It's a frigging shame.

There's a problem with this poll. The results look like a Yes. This is because whoever created it split up all of the no votes.

@7 is right, btw.

Fnarf, I'm talking about far more than 1098. Why exactly is there no other option? It doesn't add up that you can believe there is the political will for worse regressive taxation to fund needed programs, yet not enough political will to finally end this perpetual fiscal nightmare.

Maybe when the candy tax fails and the Eyman nonsense passes, they will declare an emergency and sit down and rewrite the rules. Because this is a real emergency an it needs to be done.

elenchos: I understand what you're saying, but the problem is the money is needed RIGHT NOW. Rewriting the rules is the way to go for a long-term solution, and, to his credit, I think Dow Constantine will at least try to do that for King County. However, the need is immediate and the sales tax is the easiest way to go. The other issue is that Eyman's I-747 (the 1% property tax iniative, passed in 2001) has really "come home to roost" in this downturn. If municipalities had been able to raise property taxes, for example, at the rate of inflation, they'd all be in a better situation now. The current tax structure has really made everyone overly dependent on the sales tax.

Agreed, an income tax is the way to go, but that will take time that the County doesn't have.

Split the state.

The state needs to bite the damned bullet and have an income tax. Just continuing to pile on the sales tax is nuts. We've already got one of the highest sales tax rates in the country.

Income tax. Progressive taxation.
Budgeting pleas for schools, senior services, arts funding, and libraries have all been known to make me cave and vote for regressive bullshit, but COPS and LAWYERS? Really?

I can't stress enough how much animosity I carry toward Washington's sales tax system. As a progressive voter in a predominantly progressive state, I am embarrassed that we have one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation. However, public safety budgets have been cut nearly 15% in the last three years, leading to numerous felony offenses going undiscovered or unpunished. Washington voters, for reasons that I can't fathom, have historically been vehemently opposed to a state income tax. (Just look at how poorly I-1098 is looking (http://www.nwcn.com/news/politics/Washin…)). Sadly, until Washington voters screw their heads on straight, this is the only method of obtaining adequate funding.

Reason #456 why it's lunacy to allow taxation except for single dedicated projects anywhere near direct public votes. Every state that does this is backwards.

Teslick, how is this any different than all the other sales tax increases in the past? It's always a stopgap to solve some pressing issue that must be addressed "right now". Then another budget cycle goes by and the same crisis returns again and the only answer is even higher sales taxes.

If this tax is kept, what do you think will happen next year? Suddenly everyone will be shocked to discover that yet again there is not enough money and the "only" solution is to hit the poor again with more sales taxes.

What are you going to say to the next sales tax increase? There will be another one. Will you hop on board and support the next one too? Or will you finally draw the line somewhere?

You can talk about how harmful it is if this doesn't pass, but it is inevitable that this problem will be confronted head on instead of delayed in the hopes that some fairy godmother fixes it for us.

I'm not playing along this time. Normally I would be pragmatic about this but in this case the only real solution is to take a hard line and so more regressive taxation. Fix the real problem.

I love Baconcat.

By the way, in voting this down, Seattle will still have a police force.

Which we'll use to bar the ravening hordes of criminals on the Eastside from entering our city in the oncoming Zombie Apocolypse.

"Now" is never the right time to raise taxes on the rich. Here's how it works:

1) Ask yourself, "Is it now?"
2) Answer "Yes, it is now"
3) It's the wrong time to raise taxes on the rich
4) Give the rich tax cuts
5) Profit!

If asked when the right time is, reply, "Not now. Perhaps in [now-1] we could have because times were better, and maybe in [now+1] we could after times get better again, but now is simply not the right time." Repeat ad nauseam.

"People with a lot of money are not being affected by these crimes to the same level,"

No shit. Let's fcukin' change that!

Afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted.

It doesn't even have to be a progressive income tax for it to be better than what we have now. A flat income tax would be more equitable (read: not regressive) than the current system, and even though the rich will throw a shit fit over having to pay more taxes so the poor will pay less, it'd be much harder to argue against *everyone* being taxed the same rate.

For the record, I'm absolutely in favor of a progressive income tax. But if we had to settle on a flat income tax, that'd be better than what we have.