Councilmembers Chris Vance and Rob McKenna have introduced a measure which could decrease property taxes in King County. The measure would reduce taxes by using tax revenue surpluses from one year to cut the amount that must be collected in property taxes the next year. Washington State's tax freedom day is six days later than the national day. The state is also the sixth highest taxed state in the nation.
King County is a definite driver in keeping tax rates well above the total national average.
The remainder would then be used to reduce property tax levels. That surplus then gets absorbed into the next year's budget, leaving residents with ever increasing tax bills for little or no reason. It's time to give taxpayers a break. Vance and McKenna were the two dissenting votes last fall when the full county council adopted the 1999 King County Budget. The two councilmembers voted against the budget because they said it failed to meet Ref.