‘I fear it’s going to be close’: Councilmember Reagan Dunn predicts WA’s income tax will narrowly survive

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn expects Washington voters to narrowly keep the state’s new tax on income above $1 million, and he blames large corporations for staying out of the fight.

Dunn joined “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, where KIRO host John Curley, who is urging listeners to vote yes on all three initiatives on the ballot, pressed him for a prediction on Initiative 645. A yes vote would repeal the tax. A no vote would keep it.

“I fear it’s going to be close, and it’s just going to edge through,” Dunn said.

Dunn blames corporations’ silence

Dunn pointed to Microsoft and other large companies as the reason he expects the tax to survive.

“I think because the big corporations like Microsoft and others are standing on the sideline,” he said.

When Curley asked why those companies have stayed quiet, Dunn didn’t hold back.

“Because they’re chicken, is what it comes down to, in my opinion,” Dunn said.

Dunn warns threshold won’t stay at $1 million

Dunn, who opposes the tax, argued that keeping it would lead to broader taxes down the line.

“That tax will not stay at a million dollars. That tax will go down,” he said. “Remeber its $500,00 per spouse gives you $1 million. It’s going to come down. They’ll never have to make cuts again if you give them that holy grail of an income tax.”

In his view, the tax would also drive businesses away.

“There are a lot of businesses that won’t be coming into Washington because of that,” Dunn said. “I just think that particular tax will do more damage to the state than anything else that’s been done in the last generation.”

Dunn opposes county sales tax hike

Dunn’s concerns about taxes extend to King County, where the council recently voted to raise the sales tax by 0.1% to help pay for housing and homelessness programs. Dunn voted no.

“The solution to our homeless problem has absolutely nothing to do with money,” Dunn said. “It has everything to do with the policies or lack of good policies that we are implementing.”

He pointed to the King County Regional Homeless Authority as an example of spending that has not delivered results.

“The King County Regional Homeless Authority has done nothing but waste money,” he said. “And we already have the highest sales tax in the nation here in King County. That made it just higher.”

The county, in Dunn’s view, needs to address its spending first.

“I think we need to get our financial house in order in a variety of ways first before we have the gall to go to the voters and ask for more revenue,” Dunn said.

Sales tax increase bypassed voters

Curley asked how the council was able to raise the tax without going to Olympia. Dunn explained that the Legislature has given county councils what he called “councilmatic authority” to raise certain taxes without a public vote. In the past, the council would typically send a tax measure to voters.

“When you got a veto-proof supermajority, they’re going to pass taxes every time with very little public process, and it bypasses the voters,” Dunn said. “I think it’s undemocratic.”

Dunn doubted voters would have approved the increase if given the chance. He cited the council’s recent vote to raise taxes for roads, which he opposed, and five tax increases last year to close a $150 million budget shortfall.

“I think the public is beginning to have a real problem with all these new taxes because they’re not getting anything good to show for it in terms of outcomes,” he said. “Why raise taxes if the policies aren’t working?”

Homeless authority audit

Dunn highlighted a forensic audit of the King County Regional Homeless Authority that found $17 million in unaccounted-for spending. That money, he warned, will have to come from the general funds of Seattle and King County, affecting programs such as emergency food assistance and elder care.

Dunn has called for shutting down the agency since a 2023 op-ed in The Seattle Times. The authority has since been largely dismantled, though the county executive and the Seattle mayor kept its core function in place so it can receive federal grants.

“I think we just dissolve it, get rid of it, and let county and city handle our homeless response in a way that is where you got elected leaders directly accountable to the public,” Dunn said.

County employees ordered back three days a week

Dunn, who has pushed for years to bring county employees back to the office, credited King County Executive Girmay Zahilay for requiring workers to come in three days a week. Before that, some employees were coming in about once a week.

“So three days a week is really good. I like that,” Dunn said.

In his own survey, about 80% of respondents said three days in the office is either enough or not enough. A small share favored more remote work, and Dunn noted those were mostly county employees.

Dunn opposes data center moratoriums

Dunn was more measured on data centers.

“This is not the hill I want to die on,” he said. “But I think that we have to start treating AI and data centers just like we treat any other utility.”

Rather than outright moratoriums, Dunn favors land-use planning that could place data centers in industrial areas, provided they pay for their own power, don’t raise residents’ rates, and add jobs. He mentioned industrial zones in Tukwila and interest from Eastern Washington communities such as Moses Lake.

“Moratoriums are a blunt instrument, and it’s just a way of not taking the vote,” Dunn said.

Curley pointed to Loudoun County, Virginia, where he said data centers generate about 40% of the county’s revenue.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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