I-645 and capital gains: What's on the Nov. 3 ballot, as neighbors debate it on Nextdoor

State taxes are drawing heavy discussion on Nextdoor this week. Posts from the Boston Harbor and Wildwood/Gov. Stevens neighborhoods have drawn hundreds of comments. One asks whether residents see better services for the capital gains tax money. Another urges a yes vote on Initiative 645. Another encourages early, nonpartisan voting and asks neighbors to keep it civil.

Here's what the official record says.

What I-645 does. In 2026 the Legislature passed a 9.9% tax on individual income over $1 million, set to begin in 2028, according to the Attorney General's explanatory statement. Five percent of that money would go to childcare and early learning and the rest to the state general fund. If voters approve I-645, that tax would be repealed. The measure would also bar state and local governments from taxing individual income, or taxes "measured by" it, and would define income as "any gain or benefit measured in money derived from an individual's capital, labor, property, or other source."

The statement says the new income tax is "the only tax explicitly listed and repealed." Tax breaks passed with it, including sales tax exemptions for diapers and hygiene products and a larger small-business credit, "would not be repealed and would remain in place."

What capital gains brings in. The Department of Revenue reports net payments of $782.0 million for tax year 2022, $394.7 million for 2023, $583.8 million for 2024 and more than $1.5 billion for 2025. The 2025 figure is preliminary: extended returns are due Oct. 15. By law, the first $500 million a year (adjusted for inflation) goes to the Education Legacy Trust Account, which supports K-12 schools. Any amount above that goes to school construction. For 2025-27, the Legislature redirected the construction share, about $394.6 million, into the education account, according to the state's revenue forecast council.

The case for, from the voters' pamphlet. Supporters say Washington voters have rejected an income tax 10 times. They argue taxes "always expand" and that the Legislature has moved dedicated money to the general fund 80 times in five years. In their words, a yes vote "repeals the new income tax before it begins."

The case against. Opponents say I-645 would cut about $13 billion over four years from schools, health care and childcare. They argue it gives the wealthiest a tax break, would bring back sales tax on items like diapers, and say any expansion of the tax below $1 million "would be decided on the ballot."

Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election are due by 8 p.m. on Election Day.