EVERETT – Snohomish County Councilman Jeff Sax will press the County Council to oppose a state bill that would shift millions in sales tax money generated by Quil Ceda Village from the county’s coffers to the Tulalip Tribes.
While County Executive Aaron Reardon has stayed neutral on the bill, the County Council is ready to fight it.
Sax said Tuesday he’ll ask his fellow council members next week to vote to oppose the measure when the full council is back at work. Council members Gary Nelson and John Koster are on vacation this week.
“I know there’s three people who oppose the legislation right now,” he said.
“This is just bad law,” Sax said. “I haven’t gotten a single e-mail supporting this legislation.”
House Bill 1721 – the tax bill proposal that would cut the amount of taxes the county would receive from the Tulalip Tribes’ commercial development next to I-5 – was approved on a 93-3 vote earlier this month in the state House of Representatives. It now goes to the Senate.
Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, said the bill is an equity issue for the Tulalips. Elsewhere, cities and counties share sales tax revenues with the state, McCoy said. The Tulalips, who chartered Quil Ceda Village as a city in 2001, are only seeking the same tax arrangement that other cities have.
“I am really disappointed,” he said. “It’s very disappointing that the County Council has made this a partisan issue.”
The county is not providing services to Quil Ceda Village, added McCoy, who is general manager of the village when the Legislature is not in session.
“They didn’t put in the sewer system, they didn’t put in the water system, they didn’t put in the roads,” he said. “Quil Ceda provides essential government services, just like any other city.”
Quil Ceda Village and development on the Tulalip reservation has created close to 2,000 jobs in the last couple of years, he said.
“We’re not taking money away from them,” McCoy said. “We’re talking about new money. We’re attracting new customers to the area.”
The proposed law would give Quil Ceda Village .85 percent of sales tax revenues generated there, meaning the county’s portion would fall from 2 percent to 1.15 percent. The state’s share would remain unchanged at 6.5 percent.
A state analysis of the proposal says the county could lose $12.2 million over the next six years if the bill is approved.
Talk on the bill turned testy Tuesday as County Council members pressed finance officials about services that would be hurt if the proposal is approved.
Recalling comments by the county executive in a recent newspaper article, Councilman Kirke Sievers asked what county services the Tulalips would take over in exchange for part of the sales tax revenues.
“I can’t find anything that we’re going to turn over or they’re going to do in lieu of collecting that money,” Sievers said.
Finance director Roger Neumaier declined to give details.
“We are not prepared right now to give you the laundry list,” Neumaier said. “I don’t have the specifics that have been agreed upon at this point to move forward.”
Council members later said they were disappointed they hadn’t been given details on potential impacts to the county.
“Obviously, the county has not done the analysis to determine what the true costs are,” Sax said.
Reardon said the county is trying to determine the actual economic impact from the measure, since estimates have varied in recent years.
The county is also looking at the economic benefit that Quil Ceda Village has meant for the area, and what future development may mean in the number of new jobs, Reardon said.
And there’s also been talk about an agreement between the county and the Tulalips that could spell out a partnership on providing services to the area.
Reardon said he didn’t want to comment on council opposition to the tax measure.
“That’s the council’s prerogative,” he said.
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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