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Washington Advisory Vote 18, State Property Tax for Schools Bill (2017)

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Washington Advisory Vote 18
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Election date
November 7, 2017
Topic
Taxes and Education
Status
Defeatedd Defeated
Type
Advisory question
2017 measures
Seal of Washington.png
November 7, 2017
Washington Advisory Vote 18
Washington Advisory Vote 17
Washington Advisory Vote 16

Washington Advisory Vote 18, the State Property Tax for Schools Bill Question, was on the ballot in Washington as an advisory question on November 7, 2017. A majority of voters voted in favor of repealing the bill.[1]

A "repealed" vote opposed House Bill 2242, advising against increasing the state property tax to $2.70 per $1,000 of assessed value to provide $12.95 billion in estimated funding for state common schools over 10 years.
A "maintained" vote supported House Bill 2242, which increased the state property tax to provide funding for state common schools.

Election results

Washington Advisory Question 18
ResultVotesPercentage
Approveda Repealed 874,043 59.05%
Defeatedd Maintained 606,075 40.95%
{{{title}}}
ResultVotesPercentage
Defeatedd No874,04359.05%
Yes 606,075 40.95%
Election results from Washington Secretary of State

Measure design

This advisory question was about HB 2242, which passed the state legislature and was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee (D) in early July 2017[1]

Property tax

HB 2242 was designed to increase the state’s property tax revenue by creating a new property tax used specifically for education funding. The tax consists of a flat rate of $2.70 per $1,000 of assessed value. Individuals who qualify for the senior citizen property tax exemption program are exempt from this new tax.[1]

Enrichment levies

Prior to the passage of HB 2242, enrichment levies were called maintenance and operation levies. These levies are collectible by school districts with voter approval. HB 2242 changed the lid on a district's maximum enrichment levy from a scheme that involved calculating a district's allowable levy base percentage to the current rule that allows districts to collect the lesser of $2,500 per pupil or a rate of $1.50 per $1000 of assessed value.[1]

Local effort assistance

Under HB 2242 Local effort assistance funds from the state are available for certain school districts. The funds are provided in proportion to the ratio of a school district's actual enrichment levy compared to the maximum enrichment levy of $2,500 per pupil or a rate of $1.50 per $1000 of assessed value. To qualify for the funds, a school district must have a maximum enrichment levy that is less than $1,500 per pupil.[1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[2]

“ The legislature imposed, without a vote of the people, an additional state property tax for common schools, costing $12,949,000,000 in the first ten years, for government spending.

This tax increase should be:

▢ Repealed

▢ Maintained[3]

”

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Fiscal impact statement

See also: Fiscal impact statement

The following was the ten-year cost projection found in the voter guide. The projection estimated that the bill would increase revenue by $12.949 billion over 10 years.[2]

Fiscal Year State Property Tax
2018 $541,000,000
2019 $1,073,200,000
2020 $1,184,800,000
2021 $1,308,900,000
2022 $1,384,700,000
2023 $1,420,200,000
2024 $1,455,700,000
2025 $1,491,200,000
2026 $1,526,800,000
2027 $1,562,500,000
Total: $12,949,000,000

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2017
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Washington attorney general wrote the ballot language for this measure.


The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 7, and the FRE is 71. The word count for the ballot title is 31, and the estimated reading time is 8 seconds.


Background

Initiative 960

In 2007, voters passed Initiative 960, which required advisory votes of the public for legislation increasing taxes. An advisory vote is non-binding, meaning the outcome of the vote does not affect the tax legislation. Voters have two options when voting on advisory questions: (1) advise the state Legislature to repeal the law or (2) advise the state Legislature to maintain the law. Legislators decide whether to act on the outcome of the vote.

Tim Eyman, who sponsored Initiative 960, described advisory votes as tax increase report cards. He said, "It’s a way to find out what people think."[4] Initiative 960 was also designed to require a two-thirds vote of the Washington State Legislature or public approval of a binding ballot measure to pass tax increases or eliminate tax credits. However, the Washington Supreme Court struck down this provision of Initiative 960 in 2013.

Support

HB 2242 "Yes" votes

The following members of the Washington State Legislature voted in favor of HB 2242.[5]

Senate

House

Opposition

HB 2242 "No" votes

The following members of the Washington State Legislature voted against HB 2242.[5]

Senate

House

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Washington ballot measures
Total campaign contributions:
Support: $0.00
Opposition: $0.00

No ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the advisory vote.[6]

Path to the ballot

Due to Initiative 960, advisory votes are required for bills passed by the state Legislature that are designed to increase taxes. By August 1 of each year, the attorney general is required to notify the secretary of state of tax increases subject to advisory votes at the next general election.[7]

On July 27, 2017, Secretary of State Kim Wyman said that she received notice from the attorney general's office of three bills—HB 1597, HB 2163, and HB 2242—that need to appear on the general election ballot as advisory votes.[8]

See also

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Washington 2017 Advisory Vote. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Washington Advisory Vote 18, State Property Tax for Schools Bill (2017) - Google News


Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Washington State Legislature, "House Bill 2242," accessed October 4, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Washington Secretary of State, "2017 General Election Voters' Guide," accessed August 24, 2017
  3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. ↑ HeraldNet, "Washington voters now can voice opinions on new tax laws," August 3, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Washington Secretary of State, "Final Votes Cast by Each Legislator," accessed October 12, 2017
  6. ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Initiative Committees (Statewide)," accessed October 13, 2025
  7. ↑ Washington State Legislature, "RCW 43.135.041," accessed August 3, 2017
  8. ↑ Twitter, "Washington Secretary of State," July 27, 2017
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