Letter: ‘It’s easy to cast a vote in favor of a tax that will never apply to you or anyone in your neighborhood’

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

It used to be that hard work, creativity and entrepreneurial initiative were admired and even occasionally rewarded. Apparently, that is not the way Washington voters see things.

James Teague
Clark County

The newly confirmed millionaire tax was supported in the recent election by over 1.4 million Washington voters. How many of those voters do you suppose are, or ever will be, subject to the tax? Don’t answer. I think we all know. It’s easy to cast a vote in favor of a tax that will never apply to you or anyone in your neighborhood.

There are approximately 21,000 tax filers in Washington who will be subject to this tax. Most of them are located in the Puget sound area. The tax rate begins at almost 10% for every dollar earned over $1 million. Now that the tax is officially law and takes effect in 2029, how many of those 21,000 people do you believe will still maintain their principal residence in the state of Washington in 2029? Working remotely has become the norm in many industries, and a growing percentage of the population is no longer constrained to live where their workplace is headquartered. If you lived and worked in a state that passed a tax that applied to you but not to 99.5% of the workers around you, would you stick around if you didn’t have to?

Microsoft has created over 12,000 employee millionaires, and thousands more who had the foresight to invest in Microsoft stock. How many tax dollars have those employees contributed to the state of Washington through sales tax revenues and property tax revenues. Do we really want to say good riddance to them like the Seattle mayor has said? What about the employees of Costco, Amazon and dozens of other Washington companies, thousands of whom have become millionaires through various employee stock ownership and retirement plan programs. Do we really want to give these business leaders and risk-taking entrepreneurs an incentive to start their businesses in another, more business and tax-friendly state?

Does anyone believe that the extremely lopsided legislature in Olympia will stop with just a tax on millionaires? Why not apply the tax to income over $500,000. Or why not apply the tax to all income over $50,000? That way Washington would have an income tax

James Teague
Clark County