And that's even though Initiative 985 was defeated in all 39 Washington counties in the November general election. (I-985 would have opened carpool lanes in off-peak hours and shifted some sales tax on cars to congestion relief fund.)

Here's a story that will appear in tomorrow's print edition of The News Tribune. Scroll to the bottom of it to read about the financial arrangement professional initiative promoter Tim Eyman has with his main financial supporter, Woodinville millionaire Mike Dunmire.

Dunmire says he helps Eyman because he had enough money to do what the average person can't: finance an initiative.

And he backs Eyman because he believes there should be more restraint when it comes to state spending. The $6 billion projected budget deficit would be solved very easily, Dunmire told me earlier today.

"All the governor has to do is say, 'Everybody has to live on last year's budget.' No more crisis," Dunmire said.

That's because despite all the hue and cry, the state still will collect more taxes in the next 2 years than it's collecting in the current 2-year budget cycle, he said.

Here's the story that's running tomorrow:

BY Joseph Turner
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
Tim Eyman kicked off 2009 by filing another initiative to the people, one that seeks to limit the growth of all taxes and revenues that cities, counties and the state use to operate their respective governments.

[More:]

Eyman’s new measure, which he filed on Monday, would apply to the state, all 39 counties and all 281 cities. It would limit the overall growth of tax collections to no more than the rate of inflation each year unless the public voted to approve bigger increases.
State and local governments, as well as fire, park, port, library and other taxing districts, already have a cap on how much they can raise their property taxes from one year to the next. That limit is 1 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, for most of those taxing districts.
That property tax limit would remain in place, but Eyman’s newest measure would go one step further. It would impose a growth limit on the combined total of all taxes, fees and federal funds that those governments could deposit into their general funds.
The general fund is a government’s main checking account, the one it uses to pay most of its employee and provide programs and services to its citizens. In the case of the state, the general fund is where most property, sale and businesses taxes are deposited. It’s also where the state puts most of the money it gets from the federal government.
Eyman’s proposal says if the amount of money from all those sources exceeds the inflation rate, the government must refund the excess to taxpayers by reducing their property taxes.
“This is the initiative that our supporters have been waiting for for 10 years,” Eyman told reporters Monday in Olympia. “It really deters tax increases.”
He has until July 3 to collect 241,153 valid signatures from registered votes to qualify for the November general election ballot.
Jim Justin, assistant director of the Association of Washington Cities, said Eyman’s proposal is confusing and places an unrealistically small limit on local governments. Even the state spending limit takes into account the growth in state population, but Eyman’s proposal does not, he said.
“Our members (cities) are prudent,” he said. “During good times we actually build up reserves so we can use money now, in poor times, without seeking additional money from voters.
“We wouldn’t be able to build reserves because they’d be going to lower property taxes,” Justin added.
Eyman said 2009 would establish the base tax collection level. The first limit on total tax collection increases would be for 2010.
Regardless of whether Eyman’s new initiative becomes law, there’s a distinct possibility that the state and many local governments will have to cut their property tax collections in 2010. The implicit price deflator for July 2009 -- that’s the inflation gauge that is used to determine property tax rate increases (or decreases) -- is expected to be negative in July. If that’s the case, property taxes will have to be cut.
That’s because Initiative 747 says governments can increase their property tax collections by 1 percent of the IPD, whichever is lower. Although the Supreme Court overturned I-747, the Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire passed it into law during a special legislative session in late 2007.
Eyman dodged all questions pertaining to his campaign or personal finances and told reporters to read his Public Disclosure Commission filings.
Mike Dunmire, the Woodinville millionaire who has bankrolled past Eyman campaigns, said he was disappointed by the defeat of I-985 -- another Eyman measure -- this past November, but he’s still backing Eyman.
“I plan to be a significant contributor during the course of the year, but I don’t know how much yet,” Dunmire said.
Dunmire said he also plans to kick in $100,000 at the end of January to the special fund that Eyman and his partners use to pay themselves for work on their initiative campaigns. Dunmire said that should match an estimated $100,000 that Eyman and Spokane residents Jack and Mike Fagan have collected from smaller contributors, meaning Eyman should get $100,000 and the Fagans should be $50,000 apiece for their work on I-985.
State elections office spokesman Dave Ammons said Eyman’s proposal will not be assigned a number until it has been reviewed by the state Code Reviser and the sponsor has submitted the final language of the proposed initiative. An official ballot title and summary will be written by the Attorney General’s Office.

Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436
blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics