I-933 would open Pandora's box of claims, costly litigation
Monday, October 16, 2006 7:45 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleVoters should approach Initiative 933, the so-called "Property Fairness Initiative," with a firm hand on their pocketbooks. Both University of Washington researchers and the state Office of Financial Management have concluded that I-933 would force taxpayers to shell out around $8 billion in compensation -- more than $1,000 per Washingtonian -- to property owners in the first five years after passage.
The Washington Farm Bureau and other backers of the initiative argue that the cost estimates are inflated. They note that communities can waive zoning and other regulations that limit the use and value of private property, rather compensate the owner.
Their argument is flawed and any suggestion that I-933 won't claim billions of tax dollars is misleading. A good number of regulations affecting the use of personal property are required by law and cannot be waived. Moreover, the costs of what this initiative proposes would begin to accrue even before property owners began to make claims. Initiative 933 requires that taxpayers create an administrative bureaucracy. It also mandates that taxpayers pay for attorneys to help the claimants. The cost of administering I-933 has been estimated at between $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion a year.
Initiative 933 would do much to weaken or dismantle city and county zoning regulations, environmental protections and other laws designed protect quality of life in the state. The initiative is more sweeping than Oregon's Measure 37. It not only real property such as land and buildings, but also personal property such as vehicles, stocks and bonds, insurance policies.
According to an analysis by Hugh Spitzer, University of Washington affiliate professor of law, claims for compensation could result from regulation governing licensed professionals or the insurance, securities and health care industries. "I enacted," Spitzer wrote, "I-933 would lead to lengthy, and presumably expensive, litigation by individuals and businesses that object to adjustments to state and local regulations."
Initiative 933 is a radical proposition with many harmful and far-reaching implications for the state and its future. Voters should reject this ill-conceived initiative.
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