All those taxes, fees do add up

Published 2:09 pm Friday, February 12, 2010

In response to the Feb. 4 letter, “Small businesses need tax break”:

In addition to the points made, a friend of mine owns an equipment rental store and the county has come up with another tax to increase their revenue by sucking more from small business.

Snohomish County now wants him to inventory all of his equipment and pay a tax based on the value of the equipment he owns. He already paid tax when he purchased the equipment, he pays B&O tax, and he pays property tax.

When he developed his property he had to do frontage improvements including 5-foot sidewalks, curb and gutters, two fire hydrants, 4,500 square feet of land and an approximately $10,000 fee for traffic access.

I don’t feel that there is any support for small businesses by the county or the state. Not that it’s any better anywhere else, but how can he survive when the tax hands are turning into buckets?

Richard Knox

Arlington