Judge rules against effort to repeal Whatcom County tax to fund child care programs

An initiative to repeal a tax that funds child-care programs in Whatcom County won’t appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, after a judge’s ruling Tuesday afternoon.

At the end of a 90-minute hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Lee Grochmal said that the initiative violates the contracts clause of the Washington Constitution.

“This is not an action that can be repealed by initiative,” Grochmal said in granting an injunction sought by the group Protect Whatcom Kids.

Protect Whatcom Kids alleged that the measure proposed by a Lynden business owner and others made procedural errors and false statements during the signature-gathering process, citing what the group’s lawyer Knoll Lowney said were four “fatal flaws.”

But ultimately, the case turned on the plaintiffs’ allegation that the initiative would interfere with the county’s budget authority.

“(The child care tax) was not subject to repeal. For that reason, the initiative is invalid,” Grochmal said.

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 16.75 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, raising an estimated $10 million annually.

In an interview inside the courtroom, Lowney told The Bellingham Herald that he was pleased with Tuesday’s ruling.

“They judge made the right decision. We’re happy that this important program can continue without interference,” Lowney said.

Joel Ard, the lawyer who was representing the initiative supporters, declined comment Tuesday.

Named in the lawsuit were Tim Koetje of a commercial roofing company called Axiom Division 7; Whatcom County; and Whatcom County Auditor Stacy Henthorn, whose office runs elections countywide.

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.