Vote no on Prop 1 unless there’s a B&O in place | Guest op

By Michelle McDowell
For the Kent Reporter

I recently used an analogy with a group. It is a little silly, but it fits.

I told them a truck from a Kent business ran into City Hall. It did $500,000 worth of damage. The business did not have the money or didn’t want to pay for it. The city didn’t have the money to pay for it. So council members asked me to ask the group if they would go back to their neighborhoods and ask their neighbors to pay for it.

I think there was actually a shriek.

This is what Kent’s Proposition 1 (on the Nov. 6 General Election ballot) is asking you to do if there is not a business and occupation (B&O) tax in place.

Most of the damage to our roads is not done by you. It is done by commercial traffic. Be careful how you phrase the question if you ask if this is true. When I did, I was quoted with a number of trips, not damage done.

Businesses do enjoy concerts in the park for lunch, and parks bring in customers to their stores, yet we are being asked to carry the entire burden for maintaining these assets. It is a little like paying for damage the truck did to City Hall.

Who brought up the measure?

The proponents of Prop 1 will tell you that two citizens committees were formed to look at this issue. They came back and asked the council to float a levy. This is half-true. Who brought forward the levy and what exactly did they ask for?

The first committee looked at parks. I was on it, and we asked the council to move a levy forward alongside a B&O because we felt that the economy already had burdened residents. They could only shoulder so much. We weren’t any more excited about paying taxes, as you probably are, but we were willing to meet business part way.

We also felt business should step up to pay for the roads its traffic was impacting.

What was the second committee? What was the committee that decided you should foot the entire bill? Well, there are two answers to that. The first is that most of the people who spoke for the second committee were Kent Chamber of Commerce board members, and the second is that it was the chamber that asked.

Andrea Keikkala, executive director for the chamber, wrote in a letter to chamber members: “Also, as requested by the Kent Chamber, a levy lid lift of $.37/1,000 assessed valuation will be put on the ballot this November. This resolution passed the City of Kent council on a 4 to 3 vote.” So who did the asking, citizens or the chamber? Even I’m a little confused.

The ordinance to send a levy to us, the voters, did pass the council 4 to 3 with council members Jamie Perry, Elizabeth Albertson and Les Thomas dissenting. It was quick, like pulling off a Band-Aid. An ordinance was brought forward to do a B&O on manufacturing only, but was not passed, and it wouldn’t have been enough to help anyway.

There was a resolution (not law) made to see to it that business would carry some responsibility by Jan. 1 (well after the levy would be passed and long enough so that it might be forgotten). But that was then softened by council members saying they would look at all options, and it might not be a B&O. Perhaps a sales tax? Maybe something else?

Lots of fretting and hand wringing about that one. Much concern for business.

Prop 1 won’t fix all

One way or the other, Prop 1 will barely scrape the surface of what needs to be done. The levy will run for six years. During that time, the few assets that receive attention will be in disrepair again and need to be fixed again. You will be asked to step to the plate again.

What will become of the rest of the roads that need attention as well as the rest of the parks assets? Without a B&O you will be asked to reach deeper into your pocket.

What other answer is there? As one person at a recent meeting asked, “Why are we always reactive instead of proactive?”

Is a B&O a perfect tax? No. I pay a B&O in other cities. The state only gives us certain ways of taxing business. It is a portion of gross sales. It would be a more fair tax if it were a portion of profits instead. But then I’d like my levy based on what I have left in my pockets at the end of each year.

What is a perfect tax? Bellevue’s rate is .001496 on gross receipts, Burien .0005, Issaquah .0008, Seattle is .00215 and Tacoma is .00153. The average retail rate is .00160. There are some slight variations for manufacturing and wholesale, but 39 cities have a B&O in Washington, so we don’t have to figure out how it works.

The final kicker? On a $300,000 home you would pay approximately $2,610 in Bellevue and $3,969 in Kent in property taxes; more than $1,300 more in Kent. The answer for some is that your home in Kent would be smaller elsewhere. For me, it isn’t about the square footage anymore. It’s about good schools, walkable amenities, nice roads, beautiful parks and still having enough money left in my pocket to shop in my local retailers. Hey, maybe having us pay for everything isn’t so great for small retailers either?

Though my husband and I are anticipating a move at some point, I love my city and I love my neighbors. I have lived here almost all of my long, long life. Some of my neighbors bought their homes for almost nothing because they have lived in them a good portion of their lives. They never anticipated their current tax value or the tax rate that came with it. After 20 years in my home, neither did I.

Some are on a fixed income and even a few hundred dollars takes a good portion of their disposable income. I told them I would work on this as long as we remain here. I want my neighbors to have a partner in carrying the burden so they can remain in their homes. I want my city to have a sustainable form of revenue so they can care for our assets and so they don’t have to keep going back to my neighbors. I want them to be able to budget for the long run.

I urge you to join me in voting no on Prop 1 unless there is a B&O in place at the time of the vote.

Michelle McDowell is a longtime Kent resident, mother and grandmother.