MRSC Insight Blog

About Our Blog Our Authors

MRSC Insight Blog

Posts by Steve Hawley

How Local Ballot Measures Fared in the 2021 General Election

November 10, 2021 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Forms of Government-City , Courts and Criminal Justice System , Transportation Finance , Forms of Government-County , Inclusive Communities

From changes in governance to funding for criminal justice, libraries, and transportation, this blog covers many local ballot measures across the state and how these issues fared in the recent general election.

New MRSC Website Improvements Make Information Even Easier to Find

May 3, 2021 by Steve Hawley
Category: MRSC News and Updates

This blog post covers recent improvements made to our website that will make it easier for you to find the information that you are seeking.

Ballot Measure Results from the 2020 General Election

November 12, 2020 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Parks and Recreation Finance , Fire Protection , Law Enforcement , Transportation Finance , Forms of Government-County

This blog post recaps some of the local ballot measure results from the November 2020 general election and discusses why the record-breaking turnout may make ballot measure validation tougher next year.

Ballot Measure Results from the 2019 General Election

November 12, 2019 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Forms of Government-City , Housing , Public Transit

This blog post provides a brief summary of I-976 as well as many of the city, county, and special purpose district ballot measure results across the state.

Ballot Measure Results from the 2019 Primary Election

August 13, 2019 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Fire Protection , Emergency Medical Services , Sales and Use Taxes

Senior Communications Coordinator Steve Hawley reviews some ballot measure results from the recent primary election in this blog post.

New City and County Revenue Guides Published!

February 19, 2019 by Toni Nelson , Steve Hawley
Category: Revenues

For many years, city and county officials have relied on MRSC’s Revenue Guides to better understand their various revenue options. In partnership with the State Auditor’s Office, we’ve completely rewritten and republished these important documents.

2018 General Election Part 3: Non-Revenue Edition

November 13, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Forms of Government-City , Annexation , Marijuana , Forms of Government-County

In this blog post, we examine non-revenue local ballot measures, including city and county charter changes, a city adopting the council-manager form of government, fire district annexations and mergers, and advisory votes on marijuana and downtown plazas and stadiums.

2018 General Election Part 2: Property Tax and Bonds Edition

November 13, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Property Taxes

This article looks primarily at local property tax measures from the recent general election — including levy lid lifts, EMS levies, bond measures, and funding for parks, libraries, and affordable housing.

2018 General Election Part 1: Local Sales Tax Edition

November 13, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Sales and Use Taxes

There were a number of interesting sales taxes on the ballot this year for public safety, transit, and TBDs, as well as Tacoma’s first-of-its-kind cultural access program. We’ll also briefly discuss I-1634, which prohibits local soda taxes but will have no impact on sales tax revenues.

2018 Primary Election Ballot Measure Results

August 9, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

This blog post looks at the issues that stood out in the 2018 primary elections.

Using MRSC’s Tax and Population Data

May 17, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Tax and Population Data

MRSC's Population and Tax Data page contains information on property taxes, sales tax distributions, and population from 2010 to present. This data can help you examine basic financial information and trends within your jurisdiction since 2010 or compare your jurisdiction to nearby or peer jurisdictions.

Where Do Our Sales Taxes Go?

April 9, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Sales and Use Taxes

Have you ever wondered exactly where local sales taxes go or why one jurisdiction has higher (or lower) sales taxes than another? A new tool from MRSC can help provide some answers.

Recapping the February Election Results

February 16, 2018 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

Olympia passed the state’s second affordable housing sales tax, the Naches fire district will replace its outdated fire station, and Pullman is passing two bond measures, following uncertainty about whether the measures reached their validation requirements in November.

Ballot Measures Part 2: Forms of Government, Marijuana Bans, and Non-Revenue Measures

November 13, 2017 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections , Forms of Government-City , Marijuana

Senior Communications Coordinator Steve Hawley recaps some of the non-revenue ballot measures in the general election, including Shelton abandoning its commission form of government, Port Angeles retaining its code city classification, and voters expressing support for existing marijuana bans.

Ballot Measures Part 1: Affordable Housing Taxes, Revenue Measures, and Low Voter Turnout

November 9, 2017 by Steve Hawley
Category: Revenues , Elections

Senior Communications Coordinator Steve Hawley recaps some of the local funding measures in this year’s general election, including the state’s first affordable housing sales tax, the failure of a voted REET 2 measure, and low turnout causing problems for bonds and levies.

How Did Ballot Measures Fare in the Primary?

August 4, 2017 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

MRSC's Senior Communications Coordinator Steve Hawley looks at how ballot measures across the state fared in the 2017 primary election.

Voters Decide on Levies, Bonds, and a City Income Tax (!)

November 30, 2016 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

In the second of this 2-part series on recent ballot results, MRSC's Steve Hawley looks at levies, bonds, and an effort to institute an income tax in the city of Olympia.

Voters Weigh In on Charter Amendments, Fireworks, Marijuana, and More

November 29, 2016 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

In the recent general election, voters got the chance to weigh in on many important issues statewide. This post will focus on election results for city and county charter amendments, advisory votes, and other non-financial measures.

Recapping the August Ballot Measures

August 30, 2016 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

This post highlights selected ballot measures from the August 2 primary election, including a sales tax to help address the opioid epidemic, large capital projects in Eastern Washington, and a police funding measure that experienced a 180-degree turnaround from last year.

Special Election Recap: Regional Fire Agencies, Marijuana, TBDs, and More

April 28, 2016 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

A recap of important and noteworthy local ballot measure results from the April 2016 special election.

Voters Weigh in on Contentious Charter Changes and Initiatives

November 18, 2015 by Steve Hawley
Category: Elections

The second in a two part series breaking down ballot measures from the 2015 general election. This post focuses on charter amendments, initiatives, and other governance changes.