SEQUIM –– Local governments should get a share of pot taxes, and legislators need to focus on closing tax loopholes as they look for sources of funding for public education, state Rep. Steve Tharinger told the City Council in a briefing this week.
Though many other issues are pressing, the No. 1 focus for lawmakers in Olympia is school funding, he said.
The state Supreme Court is holding the Legislature in contempt for not making enough progress toward fully funding public education.
On Sept. 11, the state high court gave lawmakers until the end of the 2015 legislative session to find the funding or face jail.
“We don’t want to be in jail,” Tharinger said Monday night.
“But it’s not just the schools that are short-funded,” Tharinger said.
“We’re funding our state programs at 1984 levels.”
The Sequim Democrat is being challenged in his quest for a third term by Republican Thomas W. Greisamer for the seat as representative of the 24th Legislative District.
The 24th District covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Mayor Candace Pratt asked whether Tharinger expects the Legislature to direct funding from taxes on the newly legal recreational marijuana market to cities and counties to offset what the council sees as increased police and education costs brought by legal pot.
“I think the cities need to make that case that we have these increased costs that need to be covered,” Tharinger said.
“You need to show those costs, but I think they’re there — whether it be criminal justice or public safety.”
Sequim currently has a moratorium on pot business. Council members have said the state should share excise taxes with cities.
Tharinger also said the Legislature needs to tighten tax loopholes to boost revenues.
He pointed to exemptions from the state’s business-and-operating tax that, he said, amount to $7.2 billion on a tax that brings in $2 billion to $3 billion.
“Something’s wrong there when you’re giving out more exemptions than you’re actually collecting,” he said.
“We really need to measure whether it’s just going to the bottom line or to shareholder dividends as opposed to really bringing a benefit to the taxpayers of Washington.”
Specifically, Tharinger pointed to tax exemptions on electricity used by huge data centers run by Yahoo and Microsoft in the Eastern Washington city of Quincy.
Those exemptions, he said, gave companies construction tax breaks on $1.3 billion that would have generated $100 million in tax revenue.
During the meeting, Tharinger was given a Municipal Champion Award from the Association of Washington Cities for his legislative work.
Tharinger sponsored legislation to restore revenue from the state’s liquor-license fees that in the past has been shared among Washington communities, the association said.
Tharinger was one of five legislators to receive the award.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
