New KING 5 poll: A real split on Governor’s idea to raise sales tax
It doesn’t get much closer than this. A new KING 5 poll finds Washington state voters evenly divided on whether they’d approve a sales tax hike.
Gov. Christine Gregoire this week proposed temporarily raising the state sales tax half a percentage point to reduce cuts to social services, public safety and education.
When asked if they’d support a three-year sales tax hike to reduce the impact of those cuts, 47% told SurveyUSA they’d support the increase, while 47% said they would not.
The KING 5 poll of 613 registered voters finds Republicans are mostly opposed to an increase (33% yes to 64% no), while Democrats are mostly in favor (68% yes to 25% no). Independents in the poll leaned against the proposal (43% yes to 51% no). The poll has a margin of +/-4%.
The governor’s idea would raise the state portion of the sales tax from 6.5% to 7.0%. With local taxes added in, some cities like Seattle would have a total sales tax of 10%.
The legislature convenes next Monday to consider budget cuts and the governor’s plan to boost state revenues. The governor would like the legislature to put a proposed sales tax increase on the March ballot.
A KING 5 poll a couple weeks ago found 64% opposing the idea of raising taxes, but this new poll asked specifically about a temporary .5% sales tax hike to reduce the impact of specific cuts.
