A group called ‘Opportunity for Olympia’ has announced it managed to collect enough petition signatures to get its clearly unconstitutional income tax initiative authorized. As Shift reported, the initiative would create a 1.5 percent tax on household income in excess of $200,000.
Supporters promise the tax would only impact Olympia’s “wealthiest households to generate college tuition money for all local high school graduates.” They also say the scheme would raise about $2.5 million a year and estimate the income tax would be imposed on about 750 households in Olympia city limits.
The success of Opportunity for Olympia means that Olympia City Council members would have to pass the measure or send it on to the public for a yes-or-no vote.
For Olympia councilmembers, the two choices create a lose-lose situation.
Mayor pro tem Nathaniel Jones put it this way, “… We can’t modify it, we can’t adjust it, we really don’t want to adopt it so we must send it to the voters. And we are concerned about the language in it, we think that it really doesn’t stand a legal chance.”
Of course, a legal challenge is exactly what the far-Left supporters of the initiatives want. As supporters of the plan have admitted, this measure has nothing to do with paying for kids’ college tuition. Ultimately, supporters hope that the current ultra-liberal Supreme Court would abandon decades of legal precedent and allow an income tax statewide.
The council will vote on how to deal with the initiative this week. We will keep you updated.
