Z-0287.2 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1478
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Representatives Eickmeyer, Cairnes, Wolfe, Hatfield, Linville, Murray, Santos, Lantz, McIntire, Lovick and Wood; by request of Governor Locke
Read first time 01/26/1999. Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Housing & Trade.
AN ACT Relating to the distressed county local option sales and use tax for public facilities; amending RCW 82.14.370; creating new sections; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to promote the creation and the retention of jobs. To that end section 2, chapter . . ., Laws of 1999 (section 2 of this act) allows counties to provide public facilities that will attract and retain businesses, thereby creating and maintaining jobs.
Sec. 2. RCW 82.14.370 and 1998 c 55 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The legislative authority of a distressed county may impose a sales and use tax
in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The tax is in addition to other
taxes authorized by law and shall be collected from those persons who are
taxable by the state under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of
any taxable event within the county. The rate of tax shall not exceed ((0.04))
0.08 percent of the selling price in the case of a sales tax or value of
the article used in the case of a use tax.
(2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section shall be deducted from the amount of tax otherwise required to be collected or paid over to the department of revenue under chapter 82.08 or 82.12 RCW. The department of revenue shall perform the collection of such taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the county.
(3) Moneys collected under this section shall only be used for the purpose of financing qualifying public facilities in rural counties. The public facility must be listed as an item in the officially adopted county overall economic development plan or the economic development section of the comprehensive plan for those counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040, or, for those counties who do not plan under the growth management act and do not have an adopted overall economic development plan, the public facility must be listed in the county's capital facilities plan. For the purposes of this section, "public facilities" means bridges, roads, domestic and industrial water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, railroad, electricity, natural gas, buildings or structures, and port facilities, in the state of Washington.
(4) No tax may be collected under this section before July 1, 1998. No tax may be collected under this section by a county more than twenty-five years after the date that a tax is first imposed under this section.
(5) For purposes of this section, "distressed county" means a county (a) in which the average level of unemployment for the three years before the year in which a tax is first imposed under this section exceeds the average state unemployment for those years by twenty percent or (b) that has a median household income that is less than seventy-five percent of the state median household income, for the three years before the year in which a tax is first imposed under this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. It is the intent of the legislature that a county imposing a tax under RCW 82.14.370 use that money for targeted and effective projects that benefit the public. Therefore, the amendments in section 2 of this act apply to any ordinance adopted under RCW 82.14.370.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act takes effect January 1, 2001.
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