<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1518960253;
mso-list-template-ids:-1242003110;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue>
<div class=Section1>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2
color="#990000" face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;
color:#990000;font-weight:bold'>This message is one of a series about the
Property Fairness Initiative to address concerns raised<br>
by the initiative's opponents. We hope that you find this information useful.<br>
<br>
If you find this helps you understand I-933 better, please feel free to share
it with your friends and neighbors. <br>
<br>
</span></font></b><b><font size=2 color="#000066" face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:#000066;font-weight:bold'>Please
visit <a href="http://www.supporting933.org/">www.supporting933.org</a> for
previous essays, property owner stories, and more!</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=black
face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'><br>
While we've already noted that it's not about the money, the "taxpayer
cost" is the one recurring theme that the Property Fairness Initiative's
opponents hammer away on as the main reason that it's harmful to the
state. There are others, but they keep coming back to the money.<br>
<br>
Let's look at that.<br>
<br>
The first figure we heard was that it would cost taxpayers $3.5 to $4.5 billion
in compensation alone. Where did that number come from?<br>
<br>
That initial number came from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), a
lobbying organization for municipalities that was asked to build a
"cost" estimate for the urban areas of the state. How did they
determine that this would be the cost to taxpayers within the urban growth
boundaries?<br>
<br>
AWC sent surveys to a representative sample of their member cities asking them
to develop estimates for the following categories:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>Compensation <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>for land use regulation imposed between 1996 and
2006</span></b></span></font><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>Cost for analyzing
potential claims</span></font><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>Appraisal costs</span></font><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>Potential costs for
litigation</span></font><o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=black
face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'><br>
That first category is an eye opener, because <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>it
is the dollar amount that the cities are telling us they have already taken
from private property owners inside the urban growth areas of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>!<br>
<br>
</span></b>When the Office of Financial Management (OFM) combined AWC's
calculations with those from the state agencies and counties, the total
"taxpayer cost" was stated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $8
billion. Again, <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>the vast majority of
the estimate is for compensating property owners for what has already been
taken from them</span></b>.<br>
<br>
There's something very important to keep in mind here. When all of those
government entities were busy coming up with all of these regulations, they
certainly didn't care how much it was going to cost you, the property
owner. Now that it's time to pay the piper, they are not well pleased.<br>
<br>
If they had taken costs to the property owner into account when they were
making the rules, then perhaps the rules would have been more sensible.
Because they weren't required to do that, and because they have been unwilling
to control themselves adequately and because our calls for reform fell on deaf
ears for years, Initiative 933 became necessary. For years, they have not
thought they needed to listen to us. We need to pass I-933 and make sure
they are not only finally listening, but that they are also following the will
of the people who pay their salaries.<br>
<br>
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s
experience demonstrates that the outrageously high cost estimates are way
beyond what happens in reality. Most property owners simply want to
follow their dreams and not have unreasonable obstacles placed in their way by
government. While there are a small minority of property owners who will
take unfair advantage of the new situation, most simply want to do reasonable
things and get on with their lives. Those few who do wish to go way beyond
what's fair are finding that there are other controls not covered by <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s Measure
37. The same will hold true in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.<br>
<br>
That dollar figure for compensation makes the assumption that every affected
property owner will show up at the government door demanding full monetary
compensation for their loss. In reality, nearly all of these property
owners are going to be happy with being allowed to do what they had planned to
do all along. Nearly all of these requests for relief are going to be
entirely reasonable. Government agencies and property owners will have an
opportunity to sit down together and work things out to their mutual
satisfaction. Actual monetary compensation will come only in those rare
cases where the community interest is so great that the community as a whole is
willing to compensate a particular private property owner for the property use
control or restriction.<br>
<br>
Even if every single potential claim were to be filed and actually paid, which
won't happen, and even if the maximum possible payments were made, which
wouldn't happen, that high-end dollar estimate of $8 billion, spread over six
years, comes out to a maximum expense of $1.3 billion per year. Not
peanuts, perhaps, but when compared to other annual expenditures in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>, not all that
unreasonable.<br>
<br>
So . . . will I-933 cost taxpayers $8 billion? Not by a long shot. <br>
<br>
It's not the cost that has I-933's opponents blowing smoke. It's their
fear of the consequences of the open governance that I-933 requires of state, county,
and municipal governments. They do not like the idea that it will become
more difficult to put new and ever more restrictive property use restrictions
on our backs.<br>
<br>
Remember, inside the urban growth boundaries in just the past ten years alone,
government has taken $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion away from urban property
owners. What makes us think that they want to stop now?<br>
<br>
Vote YES on I-933 . . . put the brakes on runaway regulation. Let all
your friends and neighbors know why they should join us in voting YES on the
Property Fairness Initiative, and encourage them to vote!<br>
<br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=4
color="#990000" face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Helvetica;
color:#990000'>Please join us in voting <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>YES</span></b>
for I-933</span></font><br>
<br>
<font size=2 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>If
you wish to be added to or removed from this email list, please send your
request to <a href="mailto:messenger@supporting933.org">messenger@supporting933.org</a>.</span></font><br>
<br>
<font face=Helvetica><span style='font-family:Helvetica'>.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>