Community impact

• I-695 will rescind about $227 million in local government funding, including money for public health, transit and police and fire departments. These cuts will affect everyone.
• Local services will be hit hardest in rural counties and small cities, which rely heavily on excise tax distributions.
• Road projects aimed at easing congestion will come to a halt as hundreds of millions of dollars are siphoned away from transportation funds.
• Police and courts would lose more than $81 million dollars if this initiative passes.
• Less money for police and education programs jeopardizes safety in Washington schools.
• I-695 would cut spending on clean air programs by $17 million dollars.
• Public hospitals across the state could close because the hospitals will not have the flexibility to adjust fees without a vote of the people.
• Washington State counties would have to deal with a difficult timing issue. Under normal budgeting procedures, a decision on a county levy and levy rate for a yearly budget is not made until late in the calendar year. However, if I-695 passes, this decision date would come too late to be placed on a ballot. Counties would have to forgo the money until the following election, or determine their budget needs up to a year in advance so as to place the proposed levy and rate on the ballot in time to receive funds for the next year.

Transportation impact

• More than half the $2.1 billion collected by the MVET every two years goes to transportation programs, including the state ferry system, while more than one-third goes to counties, cities and local transit districts.
• If I-695 passes, it will mean a 25% reduction in transit service in crowded metropolitan areas, forcing even more cars out on the road.

Vote Requirement

• I-695 will strip elected officials of their fiscal responsibilities by making any tax or fee increases subject to a public vote. Under the initiative’s rigid language, a public vote will be required to raise locker fees in a public high school.
• When new taxes are needed, residents in the state’s big Westside counties will ensure the passage of taxes that hit rural areas and Eastern Washington the hardest.
• Requiring a vote on every tax or fee increase gives urban areas far too much power over rural areas. Counties in Eastern Washington can vote no, but they will pay anyway. This scenario will be commonplace whenever an election over taxes and fees is held.
• Requiring voter approval to raise taxes or fees will force costly and time-consuming elections on the most routine financial decisions. The state spends about $3.5 million for a November election.
• More than 1000 different counties, cities and special districts will be required to hold elections to increase any user fee.

Surplus

• I-695 is a backdoor attack on the spending limits of Initiative 601. Spending the surplus will require I-601 to be modified.
• Replacing the nearly $3 billion in lost revenue over the next four years would be difficult, if not impossible. Initiative backers erroneously think that the state can merely tap the nearly $1 billion budget "surplus" to supplement the lost MVET revenue.
• Those funds constitute a reserve, not a surplus. Initiative 601 places strict limits on the Legislature’s ability to use those reserves. State law requires a two-thirds majority vote to tap the reserve, and limits how much the legislature can spend.

Loopholes

• I-695 is poorly written and contains loopholes that allow cars to be taxed as property, just like our homes. For many, this would result in a tax increase rather than a tax cut.
• I-695 includes a loophole that allows legislators to raise taxes every year without a vote of the people. An "emergency clause" gives the legislature the power to impose new taxes whenever they see fit