Tim Eyman: Vote for $30 tabs or set a dangerous taxation precedent

The day before Washingtonians vote on whether or not to have $30 tabs, I-976 sponsor Tim Eyman is confident that the initiative will pass.

While the campaign against $30 tabs has largely referred to 976 as “Tim Eyman’s initiative,” Eyman reminded Dori Monson Show listeners that it was the will of the people that put the measure on the ballot. After all, 352,000 people signed the petitions to put the decision on car tabs in the hands of taxpaying voters.

“Whether it’s Mother Teresa or Lucifer who’s sponsoring it, it really doesn’t matter — is it fair to tax a $10,000 vehicle like it’s worth $25,000, and is it okay for Sound Transit to promise that your car tabs would only go up $80, but you get a bill for $300, $500, $800 more?” he said. “And if you think that’s okay, then this initiative is not for you.”

Dori laughed that Eyman was somewhere in between Mother Teresa and Lucifer.

No on I-976 member debates Dori on Aurora Bridge, commercials, Eyman

Eyman has heard from TV watchers how frequently the No on I-976 commercials play during prime time.

“They obviously have so much money that they’re bringing in, that they can come up with nearly $5 million to run a no campaign,” he laughed.

Big business, the press, and government bodies have all come out vehemently against 976. Taxpayer dollars have even been used to send out pamphlets urging no votes on the ballot measure.

“There’s no doubt they’ve got lots and lots of groups and money on one side, and all we have is voters — that’s all we have,” Eyman said. “And the fact is, groups don’t vote — it’s the people who vote. There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them. And the question is whether or not people can be intimidated, whether they can be lied to incessantly.”

Failing to pass the $30 tabs measure could set a dangerous precedent for other taxes, such as property taxes and B&O taxes, Eyman warned.

“They will have no incentive to ever tax us fairly and honestly in the future if we set a precedent that we’re okay with it here … This kind of dishonesty, if you validate that, you’re just basically saying, ‘Yeah, we’re sheep, yeah, we can be intimidated,'” he said.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.