PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners have instructed its staff to craft a ballot measure that will impose a countywide sales tax increase to smooth a bumpy county budget.
As proposed, the sales tax rate in Jefferson County would be hiked by 0.3 percent, from the present 8.4 percent to 8.7 percent, or three cents for every $10 purchase.
The ballot measure would also spell out to voters what services the proposed tax increase would support.
The final language will be addressed at the commissioners’ meeting next Monday, in time to be submitted by the Aug. 10 deadline for the Nov. 2 ballot.
If approved, the new sales tax would take effect on April 1, 2011.
The immediate task is to write the ballot language and explain the measure in 75 words.
This is not an easy task, according to County Administrator Philip Morley, as the proposed fund allocation is not easily explained.
Property or sales tax?
Morley approached the commissioners and other elected officials last Wednesday about a projected $900,000 budget shortfall in 2011.
There were two choices, Morley said — a property tax lift or a sales tax increase.
There emerged a preference for the latter, partially because sales tax is an elective expense and a percentage of the funds will be generated by tourists.
Morley said persuading the voters to approve a 0.3 percent sales tax increase will not be easy.
One issue is how the measure is labeled as a “public safety sales tax increase.”
Under the law, municipalities can impose such a measure as long as one third of the revenues go to law and justice areas. The remainder, according to plan, would go to support other programs which will be spelled out in the ballot measure.
Some negative reaction emerged at the commissioners’ meeting on Monday.
“If they call it a law and justice tax, it needs to go to law and justice,” said Tom Thiersch of Port Townsend during Monday’s public comment section.
“If this passes, every penny it raises should go to [Sheriff] Tony Hernandez’s department,” Thiersch said.
Thiersch also took issue with Morley’s statement that the public will be choosing what to cut, saying, “W are giving the opportunity to cut from the list of programs that you provide, and there has been no input from the public about this.”
Morley said the county discussed a tax increase that would only support the Sheriff’s Office but ruled it out “because if it lost it would be devastating.”
PT allocation
For this tax, the law requires that the county received 60 percent of revenue collected and the remainder allocated to any local municipality.
Since Port Townsend is the only city in Jefferson County, it stands to receive an additional $400,000 in revenue.
Morley said he was working on an agreement with the city, where half of the city’s share would go to support law and justice.
All numbers are based on projections, so actual funds collected could be more or less, Morley said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
