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Sunday, May 11, 2003 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific 
Ax and tax: a budget-balancing exercise
The Seattle Times recently invited readers to try their hand at solving the state's $2.65 billion budget shortfall. The online exercise allowed readers to choose from more than 80 different options for spending cuts and increased taxes. Here's what they did.
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| * Total exceeds 100% due to rounding |
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"My husband and I enjoyed playing 'Dictator for a Day'!"
— Maybeth Saunders |
"This was harder than it looked! And I didn't have to get a consensus on anything."
—Lisa Taylor
"Piece of cake. Our legislators are too worried about offending the businesses who bought them their seats."
—Jeannette Wilson |
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| Number of people who relied on spending cuts alone: 22 |
Number of people who relied only on new taxes and other revenue increases: 6 |
Number of people who ended up with a surplus: 473 |
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| Number of people who ended up with a deficit: 68 |
Number of people who balanced budget to the penny: 63 |
Biggest surplus: $13 billion
Biggest deficit: $2.4 billion |
Percent of people who spent from state reserves: 20% |
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"This was not hard to do. You just need the guts to take the heat."
— Dean Fitzsimmons |
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| Percent of people who favor giving annual 2 percent cost-of-living raises to all state employees ($234 million): 34% |
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| Percent of people who favor giving home health-care workers $2.07 per hour raises over the next two years ($98 million): 42% |
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"When people are being laid-off in huge numbers, why should state workers continue with salaries, pay raises and benefits well beyond those received by private-sector workers?"
— Dallas Hoover |
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| Adopt new method of calculating the state's share of government employee pension funds. Not a real cut, but saves $110 million |
87% |
| Consolidate prescription-drug purchasing by major state agencies: $23 million |
82% |
| Cut spending on goods and services — from paper clips to printing costs by one-fourth: $200 million |
76% |
| Reduce spending on personal bodyguards for the governor and lieutenant governor by 50 percent: $1.3 million |
71% |
| Cap liability claims against state government to $1 million to $2 million: $40 million |
68% |
| End state support for the Sexual Abstinence Program: $388,000 |
56% |
| "Bureaucracy buzz cut" — Across the board cut to all state agencies. People who selected this option call for 6 percent across the board cuts, which would save $738 million |
56% |
| Reduce or eliminate the Basic Health Plan (subsidized insurance for the working poor): $100 million-$500 million |
55% |
| Close state film office, which tries to woo Hollywood producers to Washington: $879,000 |
52% |
| Halt Medicaid prenatal care coverage for undocumented immigrants: $50 million |
52% |
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| 10 percent tax on cardrooms: $61 million |
65% |
| 50-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette tax: $81 million |
63% |
| Increase liquor tax $1 per liter: $58 million |
57% |
| Extend sales tax to golf and bowling lessons: $5.5 million |
50% |
| 5-cent tax per 12-ounce soft drink: $272 million |
49% |
| Extend sales tax to haircuts and beauty services: $49 million |
42% |
| Extend sales tax to dance studios: $2.5 million |
42% |
| Increase statewide sales tax (by 0.1 to 1 percent): $176 million-$1.7 billion |
39% |
| Extend sales tax to cable television: $60 million |
35% |
| Eliminate sales tax exemption on newspapers: $6.4 million |
34% |
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"Government, like private business, needs to drastically reduce its size and expenditures."
— Al Chukitus |
"Raise taxes, for Pete's sake."
— Name withheld
"The state MUST live within its means. As a laid-off Boeing worker, I can only support minimal tax increases."
— Curt Wittinger |
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| The "meat ax" approach — entirely eliminate 17 different state programs, including the University of Washington, State Patrol and the Legislature. Though we told people this was not a real option, a few chose it anyway. |
3% |
| Eliminate public-emergency information system: $250,000 |
7% |
| Eliminate consumer-protection enforcement: $6.9 million |
10% |
| Halt state air- and water-quality programs: $50 million |
12% |
| Halt Department of Health food-safety/shellfish-protection program: $6.5 million |
13% |
| Close Naselle, Coulter Creek and Hurd Creek fish hatcheries: $800,000 |
14% |
| Eliminate Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect: $1.3 million |
18% |
| Eliminate Washington Conservation Corps: $390,000 |
18% |
| Stop reimbursing hospitals for acute care to the uninsured: $82 million |
19% |
| Reduce nursing-home reimbursement rates by about 7 percent: $34 million |
23% |
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| Bottom 10 revenue increases |
| "Pass the hat" — ask people to donate money to state government |
6% |
| Eliminate sales-tax exemption on prescription drugs: $443 million |
8% |
| Lift sales-tax exemption on food purchases: $1.4 billion |
10% |
| Increase business-and-occupation tax (by either 10 percent or 25 percent): $410 million-$1 billion |
12% |
| Eliminate sales-tax exemption on agricultural feed and seed: $97 million |
15% |
| Increase state property tax (by either 25 cents or $1 per $1,000 in property value): $250 million-$1 billion |
17% |
| Forgo future tobacco settlement payments in exchange for immediate cash: $800 million |
16% |
| Eliminate sales-tax exemption on manufacturing equipment: $293 million |
20% |
| Extend sales tax to bakery products: $54 million |
21% |
| Add sales tax to gasoline (on top of existing gas tax): $352 million |
23% |
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"In these hard economic times, we should stop spending the money we do not have. ...No money, no spend. It's that simple."
— Wayne Corey
"Do not take away from schools, social welfare and assistance to the poor — that's an investment in the future and the stability of society."
— Matt Roewe |
"I'd have Tim Eyman and friends sent on a yearlong trade mission to Taxachusetts, er, Massachusetts, so they can feel what it's really like to be overtaxed."
— Name withheld
"More taxes are not the answer!"
— Lou Haller |
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| Other notable spending cuts |
| Grant early prison release to about 1,200 low-risk offenders, eliminate post-prison supervision for thousands more, and reduce drug sentences: $95 million |
51% |
| Suspend Initiative 732, which guarantees annual cost-of-living raises for teachers and other school employees: $500 million |
34% |
| Eliminate optional Medicaid nonemergency dental, vision and hearing coverage for low-income adults: $52 million |
34% |
| Eliminate Medicaid coverage for children in families earning more than $32,000 (current eligibility level is $45,000). Would bump an estimated 40,000 kids off coverage: $40 million |
30% |
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| Other notable revenue increases |
| Impose 1 percent personal income tax: $2.4 billion |
26% |
| Allow State Lottery to run "Quick-draw Keno" every few minutes: $38 million |
29% |
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"This was much easier than I thought. I cannot understand what the problem is. Make the cuts, legalize gambling and close the (tax) loopholes."
— Name withheld |
"The real answer is an income tax, but I know that's truly unthinkable without a charismatic leader to sell it."
— Louise Dustrude
"Why we don't have an income tax is beyond me. Taxing earnings and protecting the poor is accomplished with this tax, and the revenues will grow as our economy grows."
— Susan Cross |
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Data analysis: Katherine Long, research editor
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