(Candidate preference poll results will be shared on election day.)
Our plan was to share updates on the PV4I Puyallup City Council Tax Increase Survey every Tuesday since we started distributing the surveys to voters on October 14th. Last week’s update was delayed by having to respond to attacks that incumbent candidates King and Kastama launched against Puyallup Voters for Integrity. Their attacks demonstrated the difference between how we operate – encouraging everyone to see and comment openly on all the facts … and how they operate: hiding comments on their Facebook pages, and hoping voters will stay uniformed enough to believe signs proclaiming they “keep taxes low”.
For comments from respondents, click • District 1 Comments, • District 2 Comments, • District 3 Comments.
As you can add up in the chart, a total of 90 verified Puyallup voters completed the survey, plus a couple candidates, their family members, and public figures whose responses and comments we are holding until next week as we work to edit out identifying information. We were able to distribute 3,800 surveys to likely voters in Districts 1 and 2 since October 14th. Although we would love a response from everyone, getting 100 responses to date (about 2.5% of surveys) has been a nice sample of voter sentiment, except that after Kastama and King started attacking the survey, we saw what we assume was a drop-off in responses from their supporters, or an increase in frustration about the incumbent candidates’ over-the-top reaction, since survey results have become increasingly opposed to their tax increases.
For comments from respondents, click • District 1 Comments, • District 2 Comments, • District 3 Comments.
The graph above shows that 15 survey respondents agreed with all or some, and 75 survey respondents agreed with none, of the the: • 6% property tax increase city council under the direction of Kastama (serving as mayor) and King (serving as deputy mayor) imposed on November 26, 2024 which ended up causing our taxes to go from $1.00 in 2024, to $1.08 in 2025 per $1,000 of assessed value; the • 1.8% increase on our electric and gas utilities tax rates they imposed on August 26, 2024 to what somehow caused a full 2% increase from 4.3% to 6.3% between our October 2024 and October 2025 bills; the • 1.6% cable tax rate increase they imposed on the same date as the private utilities tax increase on August 26, 2024, and the • staff cuts to the Puyallup Library, Senior Activity Center, Economic Development Manager, and other positions at City Hall on November 26, 2024. The question asked if respondents agreed with the tax increases for the purpose of renovating and renting a building on South Hill for a police station at a cost to city taxpayers of $73.5 million over 30 years.
For comments from respondents, click • District 1 Comments, • District 2 Comments, • District 3 Comments.
The graph above shows that 12 survey respondents agreed with all or some, and 78 survey respondents agreed with none, of city council under the direction of Kastama (serving as mayor) and King (serving as deputy mayor): • creating a new Transportation Tax District overlaying city boundaries that makes city council members the controlling commissioners (and draining all monies that were in our transportation capital fund for traffic projects and reallocating those funds to the police station project on November 26, 2024); and • starting to replace the transportation funds by imposing a sales tax increase from 10.1% to 10.2% inside city limits on November 12 & 26, 2024.
The graph above shows that 18 survey respondents agreed with all or some, and 72 survey respondents agreed with none, of city council under the direction of Kastama (serving as mayor) and King (serving as deputy mayor): • changing the frequency of when we city residents have to pay their bills to every month, • increasing water rates 7.5% from 2024 to 2025, sewer rates 5.5% , and the stormwater rate 16.5%, and • using $600,000 of the sewer and stormwater fees towards a $5 million project rebuilding the Puyallup Fair’s portion of 9th Ave SW into a “festival street” just 4 years after the City spent $2 million from our general street fund to rebuild the same block.
What do you think? Take the Survey!
District 1 – District 2 – District 3
Please consider a donation of any amount, and invite your friends to like our Facebook page. Sponsored by Puyallup Voters for Integrity, PO Box 42, Puyallup WA 98371. No candidate or party contributes to, authorizes or controls this Political Action Committee which is registered at the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. 2025 campaign season contributors over the $100 threshold so far include Chris Chisholm, PV4I Treasurer. When facts are presented, we want them to be accurate. If you find any errors, please email us with original-source evidence for correction.
Puyallup Voters for Integrity 
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