(The Center Square) – Anti-tax advocate Tim Eyman traveled hundreds of miles to testify in protest on Monday as the Pasco City Council considers imposing new fees and sales taxes without voter approval.
Eyman led several initiatives over recent decades that limited annual property tax hikes to 1%, vehicle registration fees to $30 and required a legislative supermajority to raise taxes. While the courts struck down the last two, Eyman remains one of the most vocal activists for fiscal conservatism in the state.
Last month, city staff told the council that their street fund “desperately needs funding,” and proposed a transportation benefit district to fill the gap. The measure would let the council impose a $20 car tab fee, on top of existing ones, or increase the city’s sales tax rate by 0.1% without asking Pasco voters first.
Eyman recently caught wind of the idea and drove more than 200 miles from King County to testify on Monday, accusing the council of acting like officials in Seattle and not respecting the will of the voters.
“You had already made your decision, and all they were doing was just biding time, hoping that people would get tired and walk out,” he said, referring to a recent workshop when staff presented the idea a week before the Tri-City Herald reported on it. “You guys had a secret meeting that nobody knew about.”
A shouting match immediately ensued as Mayor Pro Tem Charles Grimm tried to correct Eyman. Pasco advertised the workshop ahead of time and included the presentation in that agenda. Eyman jumped from his seat to the podium to push back, but Mayor David Milne told him to sit down or be removed.
Some residents began to clap as the exchange played out, and Eyman turned to walk back to his seat.
He accused the council of considering the idea with a predetermined outcome in mind and criticized them for not putting out an announcement to residents or the media ahead of time. Eyman also claimed the council skipped public comment on the agenda item in August, which the officials quickly corrected.
“On YouTube at the 1:55:32 mark, the public is indeed asked to provide input, and then Councilwoman Barajas asks a follow-up question,” Grimm said, adding that they allowed residents to comment three times on that item on Aug. 25. “So to come up and say that public comment wasn’t taken that night is factually untrue, or that public comment hasn’t happened … is factually untrue, and it’s outrageous.”
No one actually testified on the transportation benefit district in August, but city staff noted that the council must hold public hearings ahead of adoption. In the days leading up to Monday night, Eyman called on tens of thousands of people to watch the meeting at 7 p.m. as he testified in protest of it all.
The council didn’t start public comments until close to 8 p.m., so he accused them of intentional delay.
Two residents also testified over the potential tax hike and vehicle registration fees on Monday, telling the council that they can’t afford them and threatened to buy car tabs somewhere else. Voters have largely rejected attempts by the state to raise these fees in the past, which Eyman also cited data on.
One individual testified remotely from the city of Buckley, almost 250 miles from Pasco, after hearing about Eyman’s plans, accusing the city of trying to “secretly pass taxes without the voters’ consent.”
“Every member here doesn’t like taxes. We also don’t like roads with potholes in them,” Milne told the first resident, while acknowledging that the council doesn’t typically respond to public comments. “Let’s come up with a way, if we can, to have better roads, but at the same time, not bankrupt the city budget.”
The consensus leaned toward the $20 car tab fee on Aug. 25, which Milne noted he was in favor of on Monday, while also calling for more public input in the months ahead. That option would raise about $1.3 million annually, while the 0.1% sales tax increase would generate roughly $2.3 million annually.
Staff said in August that if the council didn’t find another way to support the street fund, that funding would need to come from the general fund. According to reporting by the Tri-City Herald, the council is already backfilling a multi-million dollar deficit in that account with reserves, tying up other transfers.
“We only want to know: Are you going to raise sales taxes? Are you going to raise car tab taxes? You weren’t debating whether or not to do it,” Eyman said. “You just said we’re doing it — but which one?”
