A large majority of D.C. voters support raising taxes on big corporations and higher-income residents to help bankroll the city’s recovery and other goals.
That’s according to the results of a new poll sponsored by two advocacy organizations: the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute and DC Action. The results show broad support for more progressive taxation across various demographic groups, including age, education level, gender, race, and ward. This holds true even in the city’s most affluent wards, which would generally absorb the brunt of more progressive tax rates.
In response to the poll, 80% of voters said they support raising marginal taxes on annual individual income above $250,000 “to support other residents facing hard times and to sustain D.C.’s recovery” from the pandemic. (Respondents were told that a 1-percentage-point increase in such taxes meant people earning $260,000 would pay an extra $100, while those earning $300,000 would pay an extra $500.) Almost the same share of voters, 79%, said they support doing this “to sustain a strong and just long-term economic recovery,” after being told that the local relief in the recently passed American Rescue Plan “will run out in a few years.”
The poll surveyed nearly 2,400 voters by phone last week and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. A similar poll sponsored by the same groups last year found consistent support for raising taxes on the rich, with 83% of voters approving of it “to maintain vital public services” and 72% approving of it for those with annual incomes above $250,000. (For the latter question, respondents were told that these higher earners “pay the same income tax rate as those earning $60,000, despite having more than quadruple the income.”)
“One of the reasons for doing this poll is just to see where voters are,” DCFPI director Erica Williams tells DCist/WAMU. “They very much support the idea of raising revenue by taxing the highest-earning residents.”
The poll results come as lawmakers work to finalize the District’s next budget, proposed last month by Mayor Muriel Bowser. Bowser’s $17.5 billion spending plan doesn’t include any tax increases, but does seek to lower taxes for employers who fund D.C.’s paid family leave program through payroll taxes. Her budget also benefits from $2.5 billion in federal aid from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package enacted in March.
Some lawmakers, however, want to raise marginal taxes on individuals earning more than $250,000 a year to invest in priorities like affordable housing, homeless services, childcare, education, and public transit. As DCist/WAMU first reported, their effort follows a failed bid to do the same last year that would’ve generated between $7 million and $13 million in annual revenue. DCFPI estimates that just 3% of taxpayers would see higher taxes under the measure, and 90% of the overall tax increase would affect residents with at least $1 million in income.
In May, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen told the Washington Post that he still planned to propose a tax hike, even though the District’s finances have outperformed pandemic projections, because the full recovery could take years and the federal aid is only temporary. The chances of success appear stronger this year due to the D.C. Council’s leftward shift after the 2020 elections. (Although Allen’s original proposal failed on an 8-5 vote, two of the councilmembers who voted against it have since been replaced by new members who previously said they support such a move.)
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Friday, with final votes expected in July and August. As in 2020, the process is occurring later in the year than it did before the pandemic because of the pandemic’s impacts on District operations.
In addition to voters’ general support for more progressive taxation, the DCFPI-DC Action poll also found that 78% of respondents approved of raising taxes on people with high incomes “to fully fund health and economic programs to address D.C.’s widening racial inequality.” The same percentage said they supported doing this both to boost wages for early-childcare workers and make childcare more affordable for working families. Meanwhile, 80% said they supported higher taxes to house homeless residents and reduce racial disparities in housing.
As for business taxes, the poll found that 84% of voters favored raising them on “profitable corporations who pay a lower tax rate than middle-income residents.” (It noted that “big corporations like Walmart and Amazon took home billions in profits last year, despite the economic downturn.”) And 78% said they favored “raising property taxes on on high-value homes worth over $2.5 million, about 1% of homes in the District, to support a recovery that builds wealth in Black and Brown communities.”
Recent national polls have likewise found that most Americans support higher taxes on wealthy people and corporations, though survey methodologies and wording vary. They’re part of larger conversations happening around inequality and fair taxation as the U.S. emerges from the height of the pandemic and looks to rebuild its economy.
Those conversations are happening in D.C., including in Congress. At the local level, they partially hinge on how the city will fare once the $2.5 billion in federal aid is exhausted.
“I think there’s broad concern for what we do when the federal relief runs out,” DC Action director Kim Perry tells DCist/WAMU. “That fiscal cliff is due to come in fiscal year 2023 and 2024. We believe the challenges will still be there.”
Previously:
Progressive Lawmakers Are Considering Raising Taxes On The Rich. Should They?
