Lawsuit says I-747 violates state constitution

"Initiative 747 is severely impacting local government's ability to offer basic services," said Aaron Ostrom, executive director of 1000 Friends of Washington, an anti-sprawl group and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "This is an initiative that is really harming the well-being of Washington residents. Some counties in Eastern Washington are on the verge of going bankrupt."

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims the initiative violates Washington's constitution by stating that the 1 percent limit later could be overcome by a popular vote. I-747 does not provide for a popular statewide vote and most levy limits are set by local government.

The suit also alleges that I-747 was written as an amendment to an earlier initiative I-722, which was found unconstitutional before I-747 went to voters.

"This lawsuit is a joke," said anti-tax guru Tim Eyman, who authored the initiative. "I'm not going to lose a wink of sleep over this lawsuit."

The only county in the lawsuit is Whitman, one of two, with King County, that voted against the 2001 initiative. Whitman County commissioner Greg Partch said I-747 is going to break several of the county's taxing districts, including library, fire and hospital districts.

"Our costs have gone dramatically up. Over five years, every one of our districts will be broke," he said.

Attorney Hugh Spitzer, whose firm has challenged many of Eyman's initiatives, said it was clear after the initiative passed that there were constitutional issues that could be raised, but there wasn't a group of cities and counties that wanted to spend the time and effort to litigate it.

I-747, which passed handily statewide, limits annual property-tax growth to 1 percent or less. The only way local governments, or taxing districts, could go beyond that would be by a vote of the people.

Eyman said it was drafted carefully to avoid the constitutional problems that plagued his earlier initiatives, such as I-695, which limited car tabs and I-722, which limited property-tax growth.

Attorney Knoll Lowney, who filed the lawsuit, said taxing districts are just now seeing the initiative's impact. "Local governments are being hard hit and having to make tough choices," he said.

The lawsuit alleges that I-747's ballot title failed to indicate to voters that they could not vote to raise the state levy limit. It also alleges that the measure's title misled voters by referring to "state and local governments," rather than taxing districts. Eyman, who said he is confident I-747 will be found constitutional, questioned why it has taken four years to bring a legal challenge.

"I know that they were trying to raise money for a legal challenge [after the initiative passed], but they couldn't find any government with legal counsels who would tell them they had a shot," Eyman said. "The fact they only got one local government is significant."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com