Downtown resident: Proposed tax a ‘perversion’ of LID

A downtown condo owner told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that the Seattle City Council’s proposed Local Improvement District is “not a tax,” but instead a “wealth transfer.”

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“You have to vote on a tax. This is not a tax — it is an assessment,” said Steve Danishek, who has lived in his condo near the waterfront for 14 years. “So the city council has turned democracy upside-down.”

Two days after passing its controversial head tax, the Seattle City Council moved forward with plans to collect $200 million from downtown property owners via a LID. The money would help fund improvements to Seattle’s waterfront.

Danishek, however, does not believe that the benefits will outweigh the large cost to his already-taxed pocketbook.

“We’re going to have more congestion, less parking, less ability to move around, and we don’t go down there right now because it’s too crowded,” he said. “And they’re not doing anything to expand the million visitors that they’re projecting.”

He also pointed out that most of the people visiting the waterfront will not be not immediate neighbors, creating a disproportionate tax burden.

“Of the million visitors that will come down to this waterfront park every year, the burden is paid by less than 2 percent … so 2 percent pay for the benefit of 98 percent,” he said.

A LID, as Danishek noted, is for infrastructure improvements such as sewers, electricity, street improvements, and emergency services that will directly help residents.

“This is a perversion of the LID to build a park,” he said.

He also pointed out that most of the property owners downtown are businesses that are already being hit with the annual $47 million head tax.

With a 17-percent increase in his assessed property value last year, Danishek already wonders where his tax dollars have been going thus far.

“We’ve already been paying our fair share of taxes … What are these guys doing with the money?” he said.

During the public comment period at Wednesday evening’s council committee meeting, Danishek asked the entire council to resign.

“It’s the worst collection of council folks I’ve seen as long as I’ve been here … they cannot keep our area down here clean or safe,” he told Dori.

According to Danishek, if the Seattle City Council is successful with the LID, it could set a very dangerous precedent for passing future taxation without a public vote.

“They have a huge precedent to set here, and if they get away with it, they could apply this to any neighborhood they want,” he said.

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