New admission tax for fairgrounds and flight museum gets county approval

Published 2:56 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2009

EVERETT — Snohomish County will now add a 5 percent admissions tax at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds and the Future of Flight.

The county council passed the tax by a 4-0 vote on Wednesday morning. County Councilman John Koster is on vacation and did not vote.

During the public hearing before the vote, comments from a half dozen people, who have an interest in the venues, supported the proposal. They included the county airports director, the president of the nonprofit that runs the Future of Flight, John Sessions, the owner of a private airplane collection kept at the airport.

“It’s a user fee,” said Don Doran, Mukilteo’s former mayor. “If you don’t want to attend the Future of Flight or the fairgrounds, you don’t have to pay it.”

State law allows counties to impose an admissions tax of up to 5 percent of a ticket price.

The money could raise an estimated $400,000 per year for new Future of Flight exhibits and new buildings at the fairgrounds. If approved by the county executive, it would take effect on July 1.

Tickets for the 2009 Evergreen State Fair in Monroe are listed at $10 for adults and $6 for children. The tax would add 50 cents to an adult’s ticket and 30 cents to a child’s.

The 2008 fair drew 761,000 people.

The tax at the Future of Flight, a private-public non-profit museum, would be 75 cents for adults and 40 cents for youngsters; general admission tickets there cost $15 for adults and $8 for children.

Last year, the Future of Flight saw 170,528 visitors, most of them from outside the county.

The new ordinance exempts school groups from being charged the tax at both venues.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.