From the Director: Legislature Moving Toward Adjournment - So Far, A Good Session for Cities

With the end close at hand, the Legislature has aggressively passed many measures, a number of which are favorable to city interests. To date, the two biggest "wins" for cities have been the passage of SSB 5089, the streamlined sales tax bill, and SHB 1858, relating to transportation benefit districts.

Transportation Benefit Districts (SHB 1858)

For the past several years, the Association has been mindful of the difficulties that many cities have in meeting their roadway needs. Even when the Legislature has increased the gas tax, it has provided only modest additional funding to local governments.

This measure provides for the optional imposition of a $20 per vehicle fee by a "transportation benefit district" without requiring voter approval. The measure authorizes a county or city to establish such a district, and requires the district to be consistent with state, regional, and local plans. The measure also allocates additional revenue options, subject to voter approval.

This legislation has been in the making for several years. AWC applauds the sincere efforts of Rep. Bill Fromhold (D-Vancouver), Rep. Judy Clibborn (D-Mercer Island), Sen. Ken Jacobsen (D-Seattle) and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island) to move this measure through passage in the House and Senate.

Streamlined Sales Tax (SSB 5089)

As we mentioned previously, this legislation finally brings Washington State into conformance with the model uniform legislation designed to provide uniformity and simplicity in sales tax administration and to encourage Congress to require collection of state and local sales taxes by internet, catalogue, and other remote sellers. The key element of this legislation was "sourcing," which shifts the apportionment of the sales tax for sales involving deliveries to the purchaser to the destination jurisdiction.

This legislation establishes a mitigation fund designed to indemnify those cities, counties, transit districts, and other local jurisdictions that lose sales tax revenues from the revised apportionment requirements. AWC appreciates the efforts of the Governor, the Washington State Department of Revenue, and the Office of Financial Management in the passage of this vital legislation.

In Closing

On behalf of the Officers, the Board, and the AWC lobbying team, I’d like to again express my sincere appreciation to all of you who have contacted your legislators on our behalf. This session has been a positive one for the cities of our state, and the successes we have enjoyed are truly due to the collective efforts of you, the city officials of our state. With the Legislature due to adjourn next weekend, this will be the last Bulletin that we will publish prior to conclusion of the session.

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