Eyman To Reimburse Taxpayers $2.9M For Campaign Finance Suit

OLYMPIA, WA — Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman has been ordered to repay the state an additional $2.9 million to reimburse taxpayers for the time the Attorney General's Office (AGO) spent working his case.

A Thurston County Superior Court Judge announced the ruling Friday, the latest development in a complicated saga that stretches back the better part of a decade.

Back in February, Judge James Dixon found Eyman guilty of "numerous and blatant" campaign finance violations for taking money raised for his anti-tax initiatives and spending it on himself. Those violations were uncovered in a long-running investigation that began in 2012, culminating in a lawsuit from Attorney General Bob Ferguson in 2017.

Judge Dixon ultimately ruled that Eyman pay $2.6 million for those violations.

"In the history of the Fair Campaign Practices Act enforcement, it would be difficult for the court to conceive of a case with misconduct that is more egregious or more extensive than the misconduct committed by defendant Eyman in this matter," Dixon said.

The ruling in Eyman's case took from 2012 until this February in part because of Eyman's repeated attempts to delay the case — attempts that also earned him further contempt sanctions and additional fees.

“Tim Eyman broke the law — repeatedly — and in order to delay his day of reckoning, he willfully dragged out this case with frivolous and cost-inflating litigation tactics,” Ferguson said. “This decision ensures that Tim Eyman bears the cost of his years-long obstruction of our case — not the taxpayers.”

Now, his attempts to stall or prolong the case have only hurt him once again, as he'll have to pay back the AGO for all the time and taxpayer spending they put into the case.

Eyman has already paid the state $355,498.95 in contempt sanctions and fees, the AGO says. He's currently under a court order to pay the state $10,000 every month, and those payments plus the sanction fees have grown to a total $494,589.08 repaid to the state.

In January 2022, his court-ordered amount increases, and Eyman will need to begin paying the state $13,500 every month.