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Washington Initiative 747 (2001)
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The purpose of Initiative Measure 747 was to limit property tax increases to 1% per year. It was filed on January 8, 2001. 290,704 signatures were submitted.
On November 8, 2007, the Washington Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote invalidated I-747 in the case of Washington Citizens Action v. State, asserting that the state's voters did not understand what they were voting for.[1]
Ballot title
The official language that appeared on the ballot read: "This measure would require state and local governments to limit property tax levy increases to 1% per year, unless an increase greater than this limit is approved by the voters at an election."
The summary that appeared on the ballot read: "This measure would establish new 'limit factors' for taxing districts in setting their property tax levies each year. For each local government taxing district, the limit factor would be a 1% increase over the highest of the district’s three previous annual property tax levies. For the state, the limit factor would be the lower of 1% or the rate of inflation. Taxing districts could levy higher than the limit factor with voter approval."
