Will do, babe. Rock on.

I agree completely that we have "a woefully inadequate state tax system," but voting to make it worse by increasing one of the most regressive tax systems in the United States is a short-sighted solution.

Of course it's short-sighted. It's a TEMPORARY FIX. Isn't that the point?

Dow, I'm all in favor of paying the additional tax for a fair justice system - but what about reform of the Sheriff's department? - it's riddled with overpaid THUGS who get overtime to harass and intimidate (and sometimes physically harm) the people of King County - it seems the only way to fix that situation, given the union, etc. is just to close the department and start over - and while I know that's not realistic I do have to say I'm reluctant to support ANYTHING that funds the that department, it's an abomination.

Sorry Dow, if there is any part of County government that should be cut its criminal justice. Stop throwing people in jail for drug possession. Stop making Seattle subsidize cops for unincorporated areas. Make cities pay their fair share for contracting with the County for police.

I'd be a yes if this was for transit or human services, but criminal justice most of which benefits places other than Seattle. Nope.

@4 That too. They should at least be taking a pay freeze like the rest of county workers.

#3 - We save public services that help the county's poor, by increasing taxes and creating even more poor people in need of those services. That strikes me as a net-loss proposition.

The budget issue has no easy solution. We need people to think hard about priorities. Check out communityforums.org, it's a King County program where you can tell the King County council how you want to address the budget problem in detail.

giffy's right.

tell the sheriff to stop wasting money on overtime instead of hiring perm staff and stop wasting tax dollars on drug busts in federal park lands. it's cutback city, baby. and you subsidized suburbanites have had your allowance from Seattle SLASHED.

deal with it.

I can't justify a regressive tax that goes straight into salary increases for a a special class of employees apparently unwilling to compromise pay increases in a depression. That and, as a Seattlite, I don't like subsidizing rural area's law enforcement.

i know you have no other option, but not this time, dow. no more sales tax increases, even "temporary" ones. you won't scare me with the public safety bugbear - the sheriff's dept is too large, too aggressive, and to militarized for me to buy the argument.

at a certain point, the king co. council and the state legislature must stop kicking the can down the road. reforming/ending the initiative process and stopping eyman's mischief would be a good 1st step.

@2 & @7
It is regressive, but 2 pennies on every $10 isn't going to send anyone over the line into poverty. On the other hand, our friends and neighbors already living in poverty are those most likely to need the services that will be cut if Prop 1 fails.

Although I am skeptical of the sheriff’s department, @7 is the victim of seriously bad math. A .002 sales tax increase will not move anyone from self sufficiency to poverty. This is the same ridiculous fantasy math that republicans use when they say that tax cuts increase net revenue to the government.

jinx

12 King county has no control over the initiative process. It just gets painted into ugly corners by it

@16: yes, i was referring to (attemping to) the state there. i don't think i'm that clear on what the king co council does, anyway - it has republicans on it so i don't want to know.

Come back to us when you cut overtime and excess top level salaries at the sheriff's office and stop using our tax dollars for MJ busts.

And fully fund the courts. Then we'll vote for it, but not until then.

You decided to play hardball and push the anti-tax thing - this is what happens when you do, Seattle-subsidized suburban Republicants.

ENJOY.

FUUUUUUUUUUUCK ok since I agree with what Will in Seattle said I am sorry to announce that I have to kill myself in real life after this post.

Anyway, those things are unacceptable. You know what else is? Assuming that throwing money at it will fix the problem.

Want to help with the tragedy of people with mental illnesses being dumped onto the streets after their 10th short stay in jail? Become a lawyer.

Apply that logic instead of bleeding the people who are trying to help the economy by being a responsible adult with money and having a steady job and paying steady taxes and blowing way too much disposable income at places consciously chosen because they are local businesses.

I would be happily voting no on this if I didn't have to kill myself in a second.

At least we have Death with Dignity ... oh, sorry, that's Oregon.

It's only a short drive.

This is a tough sell for me, because while I acknowledge the necessity of (some of) these budget items, I'm sick of being backed into this corner again and again. Since it's primarily exurban voters that are supporting the post-Eyman fiscal meltdown, it's only fitting that the pain of cuts be felt somewhere where those voters will be most likely to notice: Law enforcement.

I'm sorely tempted to say "let the suburbanites go through a cycle or two without law enforcement and see how they like the lifestyle their resistance to paying for services has brought them. Maybe some of them will re-think their anti-government dogma when their housing developments are in flames."

Besides, we got cops and courts here in Seattle. Maybe they won't push so hard for the expensive death penalty like Comrade Reichert did before he let the Green River Killer "make a deal" - a move that literally bankrupted our county and which we've never recovered totally from.

All well and good. But when do we put a stop to this always tacking on a little bit for this and a little bit for that. Will we be satisfied when the sales tax reaches 20%? This state needs to swallow the bitter pill and pass an income tax and not keep piling more and more regressive sales tax on its population.

The reason sales taxes in Seattle are close to 10% is that all the other times they inched the rate up by a few points, they said it was the only way to save vital programs, and temporary circumstances demanded it. It's always been a few pennies more. But it has added up over the years hasn't it? Washington has the most regressive taxes in the country and the poor pay highest rate in the country.

What happens after we swallow this one? What happens next budget cycle? Are you going to come back asking for another few more pennies and saying we have to pay it for the same reasons? Next time around can we finally say enough is enough?

And isn't this what everyone said last time? I kind of think now is when we're supposed to say enough is enough.

What is the plan to fix the regressive tax structure and end the perennial crisis in the county budget? If there was plan, I'd fall for these pleas. But I don't think there is a plan other than repeating the same song next time.