GRANITE FALLS — The tax man has been held at bay — for now.
The Granite Falls City Council decided to table several proposed tax and fee increases this week.
The proposal included a new business and occupation tax, increases in business license and planning fees and property taxes, as well as a new franchise fee for Waste Management.
The new revenues would have helped the city balance its budget. The 2004 budget is projected to be $5.35 million, down from $6.9 million this year.
City staff attributed much of that difference to having less grant-funded large projects.
Newly sworn-in Mayor Lyle Romack said he and three City Council members — Debbie Taylor, Kevin Bloomfield and Charlie Goodhope — at this week’s meeting wanted to take a step back.
"We decided to put it off until the next City Council meeting," Romack said. "We do not want to raise taxes at all. We’re going to see if we can come up with another way to balance the budget."
City Councilman Matt Hartman said he probably would have supported the proposals even though he hated to raise taxes. Hartman was sworn in for his new term but could not stay for the rest of the meeting because of back problems.
"As a city right now we’re operating very close to the red," Hartman said. "It’s the lesser of two evils. Do we lay off a police officer or do we try to get all of the businesses in town to come up with a little increase?"
He said the increases were "fairly nominal" and designed to ease the new burden as much as possible.
The B&O tax would have affected only manufacturers, wholesalers and financial institutions, charging 0.2 percent of gross revenues.
Property taxes would have increased by $40 a year for someone with a $200,000 home.
Business owners did not like the idea, and those concerns prevailed in the short term.
The next council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
