Property Taxes

Through the course of the campaign I have spoken with many different people who are concerned and upset with high and still rising property taxes. I have heard from people who have lost their homes because the assessed value of their home continues to increase while their income remains static. This problem is especially difficult on seniors who are living on a fixed retirement income. Our state needs to take a hard look at property tax reform, and below are my three proposals to resolve this issue.

1. We need to restore voter approved initative 747, which set a cap on increase in property tax levies at 1% anually. The Legislature passed a cap on property taxes in the fall of 2007 but it was not a frim cap and did not provide adequate protections for taxpayers.

2. We need to establish a cap on property assessments or valuations. Washington State citizens should be protected and know that their taxes will only increase at a certain rate every year. Another solution would be to set the property value at the acquired value, meaning a piece of property would carry the same assessed value until it was sold to a new owner and the value was reassesed.

3. In order to reduce property taxes, we need to reduce government spending. Tax reform can not occur unless we fight the need for more government revenue. This is why I support a return to I-601 which limits the rate of government spending growth to the rate of population + inflation. This allows the government to provide the same level of service to the same amount of people each year. IUt also protects taxpayers from the spend now pay later approach to government.

Meeker Days!!

This past Friday and Saturday volunteers from our campaign turned out in force; wearing t'shirts, passing out flyers and spreading the message of our campaign. I wanted to say thank you to all of our volunteers who worked so hard at this event. I know it made a difference as nearly 1,000 people heard about our campaign. This is the type of grassroots campaigning and grassroots support that will bring real change to Washington State!

25th District Republican Club

Last evening I had the privlige of speaking to about 45 people at the 25th district Republican club. I spoke about why I am running for office, the principles that I strongly believe in and how I would apply those principles to specific policy issues. The three most important issues in my campaign are taxes/spending, transportation, and healthcare. Thanks to everyone who came out to the event and thanks to Bob Neilson for the invitation to speak. Caleb Heimlich

Campaign Activity

This evening we held a campaign organizational meeting. It went very well. We had about 9 volunteers there, who signed up for various activities from coordinating door belling, phone banking and sign waving. If you would like more information on any of these activites please e-mail me (caleb Heimlich) at calebheimlich@gmail.com. Over the coming months we will become more active in our quest to bring a new conservative voice to Olympia.

Introduction to the campaign

Welcome to my campaign blog. Running for office is not an easy decision to make or an easy task to undergo but I have decided that my State and community is well worth the effort. I am running because our current representative and our state leadership is abandoning the principles of good governance that have allowed our state to prosper. The current leadership has decided to substantially grow the size and scope of government (state spending is up by 34%, and taxes have increased by $500 million in 4 years) while ignoring the most urgent need of our taxpayers which is traffic congestion relief. Instead of responding to the desires of taxpayers illustrated by their driving habits, state leaders have pushed for large mass transit packages that do little to reduce traffic and leave the majority of consumers sitting in an expensive parking lot. In addition to rampant spending, and traffic congestion our state has taken the wrong approach to health care policy. Washington has taken a government first approach and sought to expand people covered by the governmkent. I think this is a mistake. The correct policy would be to empower consumers by eliminating mandates and opening up the insurance market to out of state companies. By giving consumers more options, not less people will be better off. These three issues are the cornerstone of my campaign and in future posts I will address some votes and specific bills that I disagree with my opponent on as well as some specific policy proposals I would encourage to improve our state.