I hope that voters consider the five ramifications of the income tax proposal before they consider voting for it.

1) Even if the politicians and bureaucrats promise that the income tax will be kept at a limited, discriminatory level, other states’ experiences have shown that it becomes a piggy bank, resulting in broader applications and higher rates as time and populist entitlements expand.

2) It relieves the politicians from exercising good management practices that require knowledge and hard decisions such as rationalizing state organizations, exercising more accountability, and rationing free services.

3) Wealthy business owners and wealthy individuals will reduce investments in Washington and accelerate their plans to move out of state.

4) The property and sales taxes will not go down by the amount the income tax goes up.

5) Our companies and educational institutions may find it more difficult to recruit high caliber employees.

Reengineering a tax base may sometimes make sense, however, I do not trust the motives of the politicians. This is the wrong tax at the wrong time for Washington.

Harvey Gillis, Bellevue