Rantz: You’re about to be hit with new taxes in Washington and you don’t even know it yet

Taxes in the state of Washington are about to soar, and whether you’re a homeowner or a renter, you’re about to pay the price. Most of you don’t even realize it yet, but here’s the kicker—you’re to blame.

This week, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a spending freeze for state agencies. Earlier this year, Inslee painted a rosy picture of Washington’s financial future, claiming the state was on the right path regarding its budget. But now the governor is scrambling to address a “significant operating deficit” he and the Democrat-led legislature created.

The spending freeze is little more than political theater. It stops nonessential hiring, service contracts, equipment purchases and travel. But it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the projected $10 to $12 billion operating budget shortfall over the next four years. This freeze won’t fix the problem. It’s like trying to put out a forest fire with a bucket of water.

So where will Democrats and Governor-elect Bob Ferguson make up the shortfall? Your bank account.

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Why will Washington will be hit with new taxes?

Governor-elect Bob Ferguson and his Democrat allies are poised to do what they do best — find creative ways to tax you even more. And you’ll feel it whether you own a home or rent one. Skyrocketing property taxes, higher fees and costs that trickle down to renters are all on the menu.

If you realized you were spending more money than you had coming in, you’d probably reassess your habits. Maybe you’d cancel that unused Netflix subscription or cut back on shopping. But you’re not a Democrat in Olympia. Their solution to a spending problem? Take more of the money you earned.

Inslee is setting the stage for Bob Ferguson and Democrats to institute new taxes. The spending freeze is merely a ploy to claim they already did everything they could — Look! We stopped buying staplers!! — and they have no choice but to tax us. And they’re not even hiding it. They’re just misleading you about it.

“We should be taxing rich people and companies that can afford to pay more and that fairly should be paying more to support the services that we all benefit from as a community,” Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, told KING 5.

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Don’t fall for the ‘tax the rich’ scheme… who am I kidding? Liberal voters will fall for it

The tired “it’s time the wealthy to pay their fair share” is a meaningless bumper sticker talking point. But at least Pedersen says he wants to tax people who “can afford to pay more.”

The “wealthy” already pay their fair share. They are disproportionally taxed relative to what they get in return. But to Democrats like Pedersen, you are wealthy if you can afford to pay more. And if you think they’ll stop at the few über wealthy, perhaps you should consider that there aren’t enough billionaires in the state to cover Democrats’ tax-happy habits.

Democrats think that they know how to spend more wisely than you do. It’s an odd position since we’re in this financial deficit precisely because they spend unwisely.

They used temporary COVID-19 relief money to justify permanent new spending. They offer new program after new program to fulfill their ideologically-driven DEI commitments, even though it helps few and is intentionally exclusionary. They throw money at problems when funding was never the issue. It’s not their money, so they’re less worried about the waste.

And Washington voters keep telling them it’s OK.

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Washington voters are responsible for the inevitable new taxes

We shouldn’t blame a drug user for using if we hand them the fentanyl. Can we blame Democrats for instituting new taxes when voters keep telling them they’re okay with new taxes?

Voters just rejected initiatives that would have lowered our tax burdens — the ones Washingtonians complained about this year, such as the sky-high cost of gas. And you know what message that sent Democrats? That we’re okay with higher taxes.

“Certainly… that’s the most recent data we have from voters, right? Is the election results,” Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins said.

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Which taxes can Washington state expect?

Washington Democrats will surely increase spending and what they’ll do to save Seattle Public Schools from a problem of its own doing will be enough for them to justify any new tax proposal. And since state law mandates a balanced budget without relying on new revenue, you’ll see steep but temporary cuts to accomplish this, followed up by new tax legislation to make up the difference and then some.

There will undoubtedly be another attempt at a wealth tax. It’s unconstitutional, but when has that ever stopped Washington Democrats from pushing it through anyway? They have an ideologically aligned Washington State Supreme Court that already made a mockery of the constitution in pretending a capital gains tax isn’t an income tax, even though it’s, literally, an income tax.

They’ll also likely grant cities the ability to raise the property tax cap to 3% from the current 1%. The Association of Washington Cities is currently shopping around their proposal to see which Democrats will jump on board. There’s even talk of a bottle tax, similar to the one in Oregon.

Bills are slowly being pre-filed. You should keep an eye out for legislation that will impact your tax burden. But before you start complaining, ask yourself: Did you put yourself in the position to hand over more of your hard-earned money to Olympia in the last election?

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