We have a message to our thousands of supporters throughout the state of Washington: YOU DID IT!! Thanks to your months of hard work, persistence, and support, today the Lower Property Taxes Initiative campaign is submitting over 314,000 voter signatures to the Secretary of State's office in Olympia. We really appreciate everyone's extraordinary effort. 292,000 signatures were needed, so hitting 314,000 makes it a slam dunk. That gives us a cushion of well over 70,000 signatures. There's no doubt this guarantees Initiative 1033 will be on the November ballot.

      We are ecstatic. Just getting on the ballot is a huge victory.

      In January, we started a debate over lowering property taxes and over the past 6 months, we’ve discussed 1033’s policies and principles with the people. And thanks to the 314,000 citizens who voluntarily signed a petition, that debate will continue until election day when a decision will be made by the people. We’re grateful to our supporters for providing us with the opportunity to make the case for 1033.

      The Lower Property Taxes Initiative substantially reduces property taxes by controlling the growth of government. 1033 says that the growth rate of state, county, and city general fund revenue cannot exceed the inflation rate plus population growth. Revenues collected above the limit will reduce property taxes. Not only does 1033 provide meaningful property tax relief, but it stops politicians from shifting the tax burden by raising taxes someplace else. 1033 provides ‘net’ property tax relief.

      Property taxes are a huge problem, especially for struggling working families and fixed-income senior citizens. Too many are being taxed out of their homes. We don't want Washington to be a state where only rich people can afford to buy and own a home. Citizens desperately need and deserve property tax relief, especially now, during these tough economic times.

      No state, county, or city politician can say they didn't see this coming. For decades, citizens have told politicians about their own personal property tax horror stories -- and politicians consistently ignored them. For decades, during both good times and bad, governments allowed taxpayers' property tax problems to fester, arrogantly dismissing the people's repeated, urgent call for relief. Why is Initiative 1033 necessary? Politicians need to look in the mirror -- it is their decades of inaction and greed, as well as their complete lack of empathy and compassion for the taxpayers' struggles, that necessitated 1033.

      Nonetheless, it's important to note that 1033 is a very reasonable, moderate way to provide meaningful property tax relief. 1033 doesn't slash government tax revenues -- it simply controls their growth. Under 1033, the government will continue to grow, but it'll grow at a rate that the citizens can control and the taxpayers can afford. 1033 allows governments to get off the fiscal roller coaster, instilling discipline, restraint, predictability, and sustainability in the budget process. 1033 gives politicians the excuse to say 'no' to the special interest groups and the courage to finally prioritize and reform, getting maximum use and benefit from existing revenue. It's long past time for governments to move away from the boom-bust insanity that has plagued the budget process for decades.

      And again, 1033 does it in a very reasonable, moderate way.

      In 2001, we sponsored an initiative that capped certain revenue growth and allowed voter approval for higher increases. Ever since then, politicians for the state, counties, and cities have complained about 747's 1% cap, saying "give us an inflation-adjusted cap" – 1033 gives them an inflation-adjusted cap. When we filed the original version of our initiative in January, politicians complained that its cap didn't account for population growth – so we refiled the initiative and expanded the cap to include an allowance for population growth. Politicians complained that the original cap included federal funds and prohibited rainy day accounts – 1033 specifically exempts federal funds and carves out exceptions for rainy day accounts.

      We listened and responded to their concerns – when have politicians ever done that for taxpayers?

      And let's also remember that inflation plus population growth is how much they automatically get -- under 1033, they can always go to the people to get more -- 1033 has a built-in safety valve that allows the voters to approve higher revenue if government makes the case for it.

      Our property taxes keep growing faster and faster and government keeps getting bigger and bigger – the people are losing control. The Lower Property Taxes Initiative is our last, best chance to gain control of our government and provide the first real reduction in property tax bills in our state's history.

      For many years now, Jack, Mike, and I have worked really hard with all of you. Of the various initiatives we've pushed over the years, 12 have qualified for the ballot, and 8 have been approved by the voters. 1033 will the 9th. We've provided common sense solutions to serious public policy problems that politicians repeatedly ignored -- and we've let the voters decide. Most of the time, the voters have endorsed these ideas and we believe that as a state, we're better for it. By working together, we've dramatically lowered vehicle tab taxes twice, capped property tax increases twice, instituted performance audits of state and local governments, shrunk the size of the King County Council, required government to treat everyone the same without regard to race or gender, protected the initiative process, and made it a whole lot tougher for politicians to take more of the people's money.

      We've helped give the average taxpayer an equal voice in the process.

      We don't win every battle, but we feel extremely gratified by the progress we've made so far. The snakepit of politics is the dirtiest, meanest, nastiest arena of all. Political activism is very difficult but also very necessary. No one can be successful at it without facing scathing, vicious attacks. We're accustomed to that. In fact, we wear it as a badge of honor. If we were ineffective, these issues would never see the light of day.

      Jack, Mike, and I are very proud of our efforts, very proud of our supporters, and very hopeful the voters of Washington will support lowering property taxes by approving 1033 in November.

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