A Property Tax Pledge in Washington State

Download a .pdf of the Washington Pledge

September 25, 2006

Dear legislative candidate:

One of the most important issues facing the citizens of Washington is that of skyrocketing property taxes. This issue has taken on an even greater urgency since Initiative 747 was ruled unconstitutional by the King County Superior Court in June, 2006. 

Voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 747 in 2001 with  58 percent of the vote.

I-747 imposed a 1 percent limit on increases for state and local  property tax levies with exemptions for new construction and voter-approved tax levies. This measure has saved taxpayers an estimated 1 billion dollars since approved.

Although the case has been appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court, home and land owners will continue to face budget uncertainty until the outcome is final.  

FreedomWorks believes that needlessly taxing people off their homes and land is a fundamental violation of basic property rights. We support the 1% limit on property tax increases as one effective method of limiting taxation and providing a measure of security to property owners that are in danger of being taxed off their land.

Regardless of the final decision of the Supreme Court, we are asking all candidates for the state legislature to support the will of the people and pledge to restore the 1% limit in the 2007 session of the legislature. 

Attached you will find the FreedomWorks pledge to protect the taxpayers. We would appreciate you acting upon this at your earliest convenience. We plan to distribute the names of tax relief supporters statewide to our 21,000 thousand activists and to the media so voters will have a clear choice in the November elections.

If you have any questions regarding FreedomWorks or this pledge, please feel free to contact me toll free at 877.257.9156 or visit our website at www.freedomworks.org

Sincerely,

Jamie Daniels  
WA FreedomWorks Director
1.877.257.9156