WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A local organization has appealed a recent ruling that kept an initiative off Whatcom County ballots this election.

Washingtonians for a Sound Economy (WFASE) backed the initiative seeking to repeal Proposition 5 that established the Healthy Children’s Fund.

The proposition passed by only a few votes in 2022 and raised property taxes 19 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

Earlier this year, the Whatcom County Council questioned the initiative’s validity, asking for outside legal help to check whether the initiative should have been a referendum instead. According to the county’s charter, a referendum would have repealed something already in the tax code while initiatives that require less signatures only amend it.

A Whatcom County Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that the measure was not valid.

Now, WFASE is appealing the decision that they say was legally wrong.

In the appeal, WFASE states, “The trial court erred in ruling that the lawsuit was not time-barred but also strangely decided that taxes could be increased by initiative but not repealed—a stance no other court has taken.”

They say the initiative could appear on a future ballot if their appeal is successful.