Use WA capital gains tax bonanza on schools most in need of repairs

It was a controversial concept.

Tax the state’s ultra-wealthy on the proceeds from the sale of shares, bonds and companies above $250,000 and direct the cash to Washington’s Ok-12 faculties, youngster care and early childhood schooling.

It handed the Legislature in 2021 and this 12 months survived a authorized problem on the state’s highest courtroom. Now the primary batch of golden eggs has hatched to the tune of $849 million within the state’s first 12 months of accumulating the capital good points tax, $600 million greater than projected.

In Olympia, these aren’t golden eggs. These are Fabergé eggs.

Now state lawmakers should stay true to the regulation and chorus from ogling the a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of surprising {dollars} with designs on utilizing it elsewhere. The invoice that created the capital good points tax expressly stated that income can be distributed to the state’s schooling legacy belief account and to the frequent faculty development account.

The primary $500 million will go to the Legacy Training Belief, which helps the frequent faculties, expands entry to greater schooling by way of funding for brand spanking new enrollments and monetary help, and different instructional enchancment efforts. Any quantity above that can go to constructing, repairing and renovating faculties.

A precedence for the income stream for capital needs to be the Small District and Tribal Compact Colleges Modernization program and districts which are too massive to qualify as small districts — greater than 1,000 college students — however have decrease property tax bases and hesitant voters that will make it practically inconceivable to go an sufficient bond for college development, repairs or enhancements.

As well as, there’s sufficient cash to create what Sen. Mark Mullet calls a levy equalization program for capital, a particular fund to assist districts that may’t go bonds at a better quantity to go for a decrease quantity and have the state make up the distinction.

Such a program would have helped the Kent College District, which not too long ago noticed its $495 million bond proposal for facility enhancements be defeated by voters.

Lots of of state faculties want enhancements, from know-how enhancements to roofs to mechanical repairs. And dozens haven’t been modernized because the Seventies, reminiscent of Mount Nice Elementary College in Skamania County, which was in-built 1962 and was final modernized in 1974. Or Sunnydale Elementary College within the Highland College District, which was in-built 1904 and was final modernized in 1929. The state has rated the constructing situation at 30.30%, which is taken into account poor and fewer than 1 proportion level above unsatisfactory.

Whereas there are present protections to safeguard the tax {dollars} for capital tasks, there must be assurances that lawmakers sooner or later don’t change the principles and broaden the checklist of makes use of for the capital good points income to incorporate frivolous pet tasks. Doing so would ship a robust message to voters and an excellent stronger message to Washington college students.