Inadequate B&O tax is disgraceful

Business is not doing its "fair share" by adopting the Kent Chamber of Commerce's pitiful B&O tax on valley businesses.

I lost track of the zeroes in the 0.00000000084 percent per $1,000 gross revenue or 1,000 square feet – or some other ridiculous assessment computation, with exemptions for businesses making less than $250,000. Compare that with the Prop 1's $1 per $1,000 tax for homeowners.

The business community got a pathetic "pass," just so they could say they were paying something for the road damage that their big trucks do to the streets and roads. This B&O tax is laughable – far less than the average charged in other cities.

The pro-business/anti-homeowner council members and the mayor abhor any tax on business in spite of the appalling state of city finances.

The B&O that was enacted recently does nothing to address the city's overall budget mess. Council members Albertson and Perry have been staunch defenders of city homeowners who are struggling with under-water mortgages and, now, high cable fees (thank you, council, for additional fees we have to pay) along with other living expenses.

We don't need another tax piled on our backs. Close the ShoWare Center until the economy justifies such a facility. There isn't enough discretionary money in our budgets to attend the events.

How bad does it have to get before city officials start taxing the "haves" proportionately instead of always taxing the "have nots"? Citizens should not fool themselves into thinking that, just because there is a B&O tax in Kent, that business is doing its fair share. They are not.

The tax is a pittance – exactly what the Chamber of Commerce advised/coerced the council into accepting. A sham and a disgrace.

– Sandra Gill

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