King County Metro executives formulated a regressive tax plan two years ago that would garner them enormous tax revenues. Metro then cried wolf earlier this year, saying bus routes would be shut down unless taxes were raised. Yet, after raising taxes several times over the last decade and collecting a record amount of money from the taxpayers of King County in 2013, King County Metro still wants more regressive taxes. This approach supports the reality that SHIFT recently brought to light – the mission of Washington liberal/progressives is to keep raising taxes to grow the size of government.
Due to rising sales tax collections, King County Metro took an extra “35 million this year” above projections from taxpayers and will take a projected total of “half of a billion dollars in total sales tax collections” for 2015. All to just in place the bus system we already have running.
As it turns out, Metro was wrong when it cried wolf – there are ever-rising revenues thanks to the regressive taxes. In fact, there is more money available now than ever before for buses. In an efficient system, the money would be enough to keep the Metro whole, but Seattle officials still want higher taxes to take more taxpayer money to “pay more for a bus service Seattle residents are already receiving“. By threatening to cut the bus services if even more money taxes are not raised, King County Metro is showing its disdain for the people who need the bus services and utilize them in their everyday lives.
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