Letter writer Daniel Meekhof’s argument for voting “no” on Initiative 645 rests on a noble goal — ensuring fair funding for public services — but it builds its foundation on historical myths and a misunderstanding of how business taxation works.
First, citing statutory 91% marginal tax rates from the 1950s misses the difference between statutory and effective rates. The mid-century tax code was full of deductions, oil depletion allowances and shelter provisions. IRS historical data shows the top 1% never paid anywhere near 90%; their average effective federal tax rate in the 1950s was between 35% and 42%. Attributing post-war prosperity to astronomical tax brackets also ignores reality: America’s economy boomed because the rest of the industrialized world’s manufacturing infrastructure had been flattened by World War II, not because the tax code penalized growth.
Furthermore, the 63% tax bracket in the Revenue Act of 1932 was enacted under Herbert Hoover, not FDR, and economists widely agree that hiking taxes into an acute deflationary spiral actually deepened the Great Depression.
Second, a “millionaires’ tax” rarely affects the multi-billion-dollar corporate titans people imagine. Public corporations pay entity taxes; their balance sheets aren’t hit by personal income levies. Instead, the burden lands heavily on mid-sized, family-owned “pass-through” businesses: S-corps, LLCs and partnerships.
For a local contractor, precision manufacturer or regional supplier, business profits flow directly onto the owner’s individual tax return. That reported income often isn’t personal wealth sitting in a bank account; it represents working capital tied up in payroll reserves, raw materials, equipment and receivables.
Throw in the reality that selling a family business built over 30 years triggers a one-time “millionaire” tax bill at retirement, and the policy ends up punishing the exact mid-sized employers communities depend on.
We can debate the fairness of Washington’s tax code, but doing so requires looking past simplistic talking points and confronting how tax burdens actually function in the real economy.
I will be voting YES on I-645. Olympia has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. There are better solutions than letting Olympia make an end-run around the state Constitution.
Eric Fisher
Bothell
