Washington State is the 5th Highest Taxed

Washington State is the 5th highest taxed state in the U.S., per capita, based on federal, state and local taxes paid in 2001.

This data contrasts sharply with an interpretation of U.S. census data reported this week in The Olympian. Several other papers in the state had similar articles. This story said that Washington State had dropped to 20th in the nation in state and local tax burden. It turns out that they are using highly manipulated data to try to create the perception that “we’re not that bad, after all.” Even with all their monkeying, they weren’t able to get us even to the middle of the pack.

Their ranking was arrived at by excluding federal taxes and dividing state and local taxes by every $1,000 of personal income. Since Washington is a high personal income state, their figures mask the fact that in total tax burden, Washingtonians are among the highest taxed in the country.

Gary Strannigan, director of Washington Citizens for a Sound Economy, issued the following statement:

“The Olympian story shows how the media can and does easily manipulate raw data to suit their own purposes. The real story is that Washington citizens are still high-taxed and over-taxed. The Olympian’s reporting was nothing more than a campaign piece opposing Initiative 747. Per capita interpretation of data is much more reliable and realistic considering the higher income levels of our state and the skewing of the data if that is the main consideration. The more that raw data is manipulated mathematically, the easier it is to create misperceptions about our tax burden. Make no mistake, Washington State citizens are over-taxed!”

Read The Olympian’s story:

Olympian Story

The Tax Foundation ranking of total tax burden:

Tax Foundation Study