For the Renton Reporter

The Renton City Council on Monday voted unanimously to oppose Tim Eyman’s latest initiative, Initiative 1033, which is on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The vote came after council members listened to speakers about the pros and cons of the initiative, which would limit certain state, county and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth, not including voter-approved revenue increases.

Jay Covington, the City of Renton chief administrative officer, said the initiative would place broad annual limits on the growth of state, county and city general fund revenues received from taxes, fees, and other charges not expressly approved by the voters.

Revenues above the limit would be returned through property tax reductions.

The Office of Financial Management has estimated the initiative would result in at least an $8.1 billion loss to the state general fund, $3 billion to general funds of Washington cities, and $900 million to the general funds of counties.

Covington said if I-1033 passes, it will significantly impact the city’s ability to invest in infrastructure and to support economic growth and vitality.

“When we invested $23 million in infrastructure for The Landing, we planned to use the increased sales tax revenue from that development to pay for our investment,” Covington said. “If voters approve I-1033, those revenues will likely be diverted to reduce property taxes, severely impacting the city’s ability to afford future investments in infrastructure.”

He also said the Growth Management Act emphasizes high-density development in cities, including Renton. Under I-1033, there would be no incentive or benefit for cities accepting that growth.

Opponents who spoke included Bill Taylor, president of the Renton Chamber of Commerce, and another Renton resident. Despite an invitation, none of the proponents of the initiative attended the council meeting.

“This initiative would result in our inability to fund education,” said Taylor. “It takes away any incentive for economic development or annexation, and severely impacts economic recovery. They couldn’t have picked a worse year than 2009 as the baseline. This year we’ve experienced one of the worst recessions in 70 years.”