On Tuesday, November 10, Centralia City Councilmember and Representative-Elect Peter Abbarno made the motion to not increase the City of Centralia property tax levy by 1%. Abbarno has voted against every property tax levy increase since being elected to the City Council in 2015. The Motion passed 5-1 on first reading and will be before the City Council again on Tuesday, November 24th for final reading. Read more in the Daily Chronicle.
The City of Centralia is passing a balanced budget and maintaining a health reserve. There is no need to increase taxes on working families and small businesses. Government should not increase taxes just because they can. Small incremental taxes add up.
There is a negative perception to tax increases, in addition to the negative economic impact. The Centralia School District is facing a double levy failure. The City should do everything in its power to reduce the property tax burden and give our partners at the School District a chance to make the case for a property tax investment in our students.
Peter Abbarno, Centralia Mayor Pro-tem and Representative-Elect in the 20th Legislative District.
Yearly, local governments have the statutory authority to raise the property tax levy without voter approval an amount equal to the Implicit price deflator (IPD) or 1% if a substantial need is found. This year the IPD was .61% . Local Governments can either raise the property tax levy, decline to raise the property tax levy, or bank a property tax levy increase. Centralia voted 5-1 to bank any property tax levy increase.
Regardless of the size, unnecessary tax increases are still unnecessary and still have a cumulative impact that hurts working families, small business owners, property owners, and citizens on fixed incomes.
Peter Abbarno, Centralia Mayor Pro-tem and Representative-Elect in the 20th Legislative District.