Property taxes go up to help pay for McCleary court decision on school funding

At various social gatherings, people are commenting that their property taxes are going up. It's a consequence of the McCleary court decision. It's the Washington State Supreme Court ruling that our state wasn't funding K-12 education adequately. This year, they finally kind of fixed that, I guess, by raising property taxes for the most part.

Washington has no income tax, so it relies on things like sales and property taxes. The money has got to come from someplace.

Property values keep soaring so there's more and more money there, but property owners don't necessarily have the money to spend. It's all tied up in the property.

As property values soar, the cost of living soars so teachers, especially first time home buyers and renters, need more money to be able to afford to live in the communities where they work.

Prosperity has it's downside. The spiral of keeping up.

Some people question how much is spent on schools now. They often say that there are too many high paid administrators. Seems like that's a problem in just about every organization. I notice whenever they raise salaries for top employees, they always say that they have to keep up with pay scales in other areas; like California. They also say that the private sector pays more for similar jobs so if they don't pay these salaries, their top staff will leave.

It's the brain drain problem. The spiral of keeping up. It's like the NFL draft. A bidding war between institutions and corporations. A graduated income tax could help to cool off that vicious spiral.

Our governor, Jay Inslee, wanted to have a carbon tax to help pay for McCleary and reduce carbon emissions, but that didn't get far in the legislature. We do need carbon taxes, but like just about any tax, it's politically difficult.

The news can be a bit confusing, as usual. I do a Google search and find headlines like this. Governor Inslee signs 391 million statewide property tax cut. I guess the taxes went up this year to "fix" McCleary, but they expect the booming economy to generate more taxes next year so they can fix McCleary and also cut some of the tax hike; like walking and chewing gum at the same time (famous quote about former President Gerald Ford).

These same type of issues play out all across the country and to some extent around the world. A bit differently in each region. Washington State isn't just local. Each state is a microcosm of the big picture. Keeping up with the Jones's.