Supporters of a tax that Whatcom County voters approved nearly two years ago are suing to keep a repeal measure off the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Protect Whatcom Kids, a political action committee that includes key Whatcom County figures in politics and social services, is alleging that the measure proposed by a Lynden business owner and others made procedural errors and false statements during the signature-gathering process.
They are seeking a quick hearing on their request for an injunction and the matter has been scheduled for Aug. 30 in Whatcom County Superior Court, according to court documents filed Aug. 16.
“This court need not even address the proposed initiative’s fatal substantive defects because the initiative must be stricken for its procedural inadequacy,” Protect Whatcom Kids said in court documents. “The sponsor’s petition failed to state the measure’s ballot title in the official text or ‘prayer,’ as the Whatcom County Charter and Whatcom County Code expressly require. This failure is the beginning and end of the case.”
Further, the plaintiffs allege that the initiative goes beyond the scope of an initiative because it would interfere with the county’s budget authority. Whatcom County officials have crafted plans and signed contracts to spend funds raised by the Healthy Children’s Fund that was created by Proposition 5, which passed by 20 votes in 2022.
Proposition 5 charges property owners 19 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, raising an estimated $10 million annually.
“While the creation of the Healthy Children’s Fund was a legislative act, the county has long ago moved into an administrative phase and has spent years in planning and implementation, including negotiating long-term contracts with vendors. A local initiative cannot be used to sabotage the administration of a previously adopted plan,” the plaintiffs said in court documents.
Named in the lawsuit are Tim Koetje of a commercial roofing company called Axiom Division 7, Whatcom County and Whatcom County Auditor Stacy Henthorn, whose office runs elections countywide.
In addition to the Protect Whatcom Kids lawsuit, the Whatcom County Council is also asking a judge to rule on the measure’s validity.
Petitions seeking to overturn the tax were filed with the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office on June 3, and they had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot as an initiative.
Supporting the repeal is a political action committee called Washingtonians for a Sound Economy.
Councilman Todd Donovan said the ballot measure should have been filed as a referendum . That would have required a larger number of petition signatures and put time constraints on its filing.
Washington is one of 26 U.S. states that allow initiatives and/or referendums , according to Ballotpedia, an online encyclopedia.
In general, an initiative allows citizens to collect signatures to place a new law or constitutional amendment before the voters. A referendum allows citizens to collect signatures to ask voters whether to uphold or repeal a law.
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