Nothing too egregious about this press release from Senator Joseph Zarelli about the budget forecast being tighter than we’d thought, but this was a bit off.
I would have been more comfortable leaving an even larger amount in reserve, but reaching this new budget agreement required a number of compromises, and the size of the ending fund balance was one. Our side figured the June forecast would be down significantly, just like the March forecast was, which is why we insisted on policy reforms that will save money going forward, and made sure this new budget was the first one since 1997 to spend less than anticipated revenue.
If he was that interested in having a larger reserve, he might have considered raising taxes. Yes, there was a 2/3 requirement, but if the chief Republican budget negotiator in the state senate had decided to push for higher taxes, it would have done a lot. So it seems like the things that made him most comfortable were (a) passing a budget since it was a special session, and all the legislators just wanted to go home already, (b) no tax increases, (c) having a reserve. Although (a) and (b) may not be in that order.
Does everyone here understand what a “lower revenue forecast” is? It’s a tax cut. It means Washington citizens will pay less taxes than expected because they’re spending less. If you don’t buy a new car this year, or you buy an expensive item from an out-of-state internet reseller instead of a local retailer, you’re paying less taxes.
State government has been deprived of billions of dollars of operating revenue in recent years because Washingtonians are avoiding paying sales taxes, on which Washington primarily relies, either by consuming less or through tax avoidance strategems.
Lower revenue equates with lower taxes, period. Raising nominal tax rates doesn’t result in a tax increase if you’re paying less taxes than before on the same income — either because you’re paying off debts or saving more, as many people apparently are doing — because in that scenario you’ve still gotten an overall tax cut. The math isn’t difficult; this reality should be apparent to any seventh-grader.
Any questions?
@1
Heck, no. Since they’re not writing a check with the tax man’s name on it, people don’t think about it at all.
I know exactly how much I paid in property taxes I paid last year. I know exactly how much in income tax I paid last year. I haven’t a clue how much I paid in sales taxes I paid last year. Nor do I know how much of that sales tax went to cities, counties, or the state.
@2 Well, here’s a clue: If you’re an average Washington resident you’re paying less sales tax now than you did a few years ago. Much less. Washingtonians have given themselves a massive multi-billion-dollar tax cut, at the expense of public services, and it didn’t even require an initiative or legislative action. All they did was spend less on taxable goods.
@2: Take your net pay, deduct anything you might have saved over the course of the year if any, deduct your mortgage/rent payments…multiply that by the sales tax rate. That should give you a good approximation. This analysis assumes you do not spend significant amounts of your discretionary income in the black market or gambling. Looking up how that figure is allocated to various arms of government is easily found by using the google.
@3: Collectively, we have given ourselves a huge income reduction. Reduced tax payments follow.
so when are you tax hungry idiots going to start sending Olympia bonus checks?
talk is cheap….put up or shut up.
the fuckhead rabbit fails to recognize that many people are making less money now than they were a few years ago…yet he still wants to tax them more. Hey rabbit, how about you take your lazy ass and send Oly more cash? You never worked more than a 3 hour day in your life anyway, you lazy turd.
@6: No one is tax hungry.
I am service hungry. I think that it will improve my standard of living if I live in a state where the public schools are funded appropriately, where people can get the health care they need to live and prosper even if they don’t have or can’t have a 9 – 5 job, where police, fire and infrastructure are all fully funded and maintained. That requires a stable (and increased) income for the state.
None of that is achievable via donation. I could give all my income and all my possessions to the state and it wouldn’t make one bit of difference. This is not something that one person pay for – this needs to be a group decision.
Obviously, currently the group (and you apparently) think they can have everything and pay for nothing. Eventually y’all are going to figure out the fallacy of that. But till then we will tell you that you are horribly, tragically wrong.
Of course @6 forgets to mention that we want to tax those who are making more, but paying little in the way of taxes.
So much easier to rally the troops by complaining about those evil taxes.
Special Report: Breakaway Wealth, An ongoing series about how the rich are pulling away from the rest of America.
@9: Well, when you give those fuckers a $13 trillion bailout, I guess even they can figure out how to make a buck.
9. Has anyone noticed that 9.1% and actually closer to 20% are unemployed, and cannot afford to pay for all those services you talk about. Ant the rest have their savings sitting in either losing investments or dirt poor interest investments, as well as if they are lucky enough to find another job, it is for lots less pay.
But you think all these people can continue to pay for ever expanding government services?
Really…
@1. Roger Rabbit spews:
Lower revenue equates with lower taxes, period. Raising nominal tax rates doesn’t result in a tax increase if you’re paying less taxes than before on the same income — either because you’re paying off debts or saving more, as many people apparently are doing — because in that scenario you’ve still gotten an overall tax cut. The math isn’t difficult; this reality should be apparent to any seventh-grader.
Any questions?
————————————
yes, I have a question, what is your point? Do you have some solution in mind?
15. Of course he does, he wants your taxes raised to pay for his pension and all the high state wages and benefits.
Gregoire just signed the new budget slashing Sontags performance audit budget.
They just don’t get what is going on financially in this country. But they will soon!
@13
The only ones that don’t get it are the suckers who still shrill for the very rich.
Why do you hate America so?