S-2805.1
SENATE BILL 5938
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State of Washington | 65th Legislature | 2017 1st Special Session |
By Senator Fortunato
AN ACT Relating to clarifying the prohibition of the imposition of a local income tax; amending RCW
36.65.030; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the costs associated with local initiatives impose administrative and legal costs on municipalities, regardless of the initiative's constitutional or statutory validity. The legislature finds that the courts' use of the same preballot deference in deciding local initiative challenges as statewide initiatives is not appropriate. The legislature restates its refusal to delegate to a city, county, or city-county, as a whole or as a governing body, the power to impose a tax on the personal income of individuals or households.
Sec. 2. RCW 36.65.030 and 1984 c 91 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
A county, city, or city-county ((shall)) may not levy a tax on ((net)) an individual's or household's personal income, whether net, gross, or adjusted gross income, capital gains income, or any other portion, or type of income. This prohibition, and the definition of income specifically, are to be construed broadly by any reviewing court to affect the policy of this state that there exist absolute clarity and certainty in state law that there is no local government authority to levy any form of income tax on individuals or households.
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