The initiative will lock not only the state budget at its current level, but also the budget of all 39 counties in the state, as well as 281 municipalities. The last couple years, all levels of government in Washington have been forced to make dramatic cuts in services offered because tax revenues have decreased with the condition of the economy. The cuts made so far include natural resource programs by 25%, and $1.5 billion from school funding, and 1033 would essentially be making these cuts permanent while almost certainly forcing additional cuts in coming years.
At a city council meeting last week, Publicola reports that this chart was displayed:
If Eyman's initiative was implement in 2001 when the economy was in a similar state, by 2015, money collected for the general fund through property taxes WOULD BE $0. As Council Member Tim Burgess notes, “We would essentially be wiping out the [equivalent of the] police department." Luckily, we're not exploring undiscovered territory here. Back in 1992, Colorado passed a very similar law to what Eyman is proposing and the effects were so disastrous that the voters suspended the law in 2005:
You can view the television ads the No on 1033 Campaign is running below, and you can also go to their website and pledge to vote no.
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