Appeal Filed to State Supreme Court Defending Initiative Process and I-2024-01
For immediate release
October 17, 2024 - Bellingham, WA – Today, Tim Koetje filed a statement of grounds in an appeal of a trial court decision that kicked a popular local initiative repealing a tax from the ballot. The appeal, filed in the state supreme court, seeks review on the grounds of great public importance. If successful, the initiative could be placed on the ballot in a future election.
Tim Koetje, working with the proponent group Washingtonians for a Sound Economy, collected almost 10,000 signatures in support of a local initiative in Whatcom County to repeal Proposition 5. Passed in 2022, by only 20 votes, Proposition 5 lifted the limit on property taxes under Chapter 84.55, purportedly to fund childcare, early learning programs, and increased support for vulnerable children. The repeal would reinstate the property tax limit. The initiative proponents cleared all ballot language with the county auditor and county attorney on March 15, 2024. Under state law, challenges to initiatives must be filed within 10 days of ballot language approval by county officials.
Despite this, opponents of the initiative waited until August 15 to file a lawsuit, just days before the ballot was to be finalized by the county auditor. The trial court erred in ruling that the lawsuit was not time-barred but also strangely decided that taxes could be increased by initiative but not repealed—a stance no other court has taken. The appeal is being handled for Defendant Tim Koetje by attorney Jackson Maynard of Maynard Law PLLC.
“This decision was legally wrong—plain and simple. It defied logic and common sense. The right to legislate by initiative is fundamental to our system of government in our state. We are hopeful that the state supreme court will vindicate this right and see this attack on democracy for what it is—an attempt to silence the voices of thousands of people in Whatcom County,” said Ashley Butenschoen with Washingtonians for a Sound Economy.
For more information, please contact:
Ashley Butenschoen
Washingtonians for a Sound Economy
(360) 224-4123
info@soundeconomywa.org