Tax advisory votes are not binding
GAS TAX HIKE AMONG THEM:
There are four tax-related proposals on the Tuesday (Nov. 3) ballot. Your vote won’t matter on any of them.
One of the biggest measures is the gas-tax and car-tab fee increases approved by the Legislature in July as part of a $16 billion, 16-year transportation package. It tacked 7 cents onto the price of a gallon of gasoline in August – an amount most people won’t have noticed amid the global collapse of oil prices and $2.20 a gallon gasoline. Another 4.9 cents tax will be phased in on gasoline and diesel over the next year.
So why vote on this – and three other taxes approved by lawmakers to balance budgets?
The requirement is a holdover from a Tim Eyman-sponsored initiative passed by voters back in 2007. Courts later struck down the initiative’s major provisions as unconstitutional, but fine print of the measure lives on – including the advisory votes.
Another advisory vote deals with an oil transportation safety fee that passed unanimously in the Senate and by 95-1 in the House. Another is the Cannabis Protection Act, which harmonized tax rates for marijuana sales, and passed by bipartisan votes. Lastly is a measure that eliminated certain tax breaks on software royalties.
Cost for this exercise in meaningless votes? It’s over $700,000 and counting over the past three years, according to the Office of the Secretary of State.
SENIOR SITE WELCOME:
An apartment complex for low-income seniors is breaking ground this month in Tumwater. The 210-unit complex, The Reserve, is a first in the city and will replace the former Mega Foods store along Trosper Road near Interstate 5.
The project is another example of the mixed-use development that is the new fashion in South Sound. That means the five-story project will include retail space on the ground floor when the commercial areas open for business in 2016. Residences would be completed by spring 2017.
This is a welcome development that puts seniors close to shops, clinics, banks and even a walking trail at Barnes Lake.
HEAR IT FOR THE MAFIA DOLLS:
Their name may be a bit puzzling, but the Rockabilly Mafia Dolls are doing good things in Olympia. A local chapter has opened for the national social club and it is tapping into the vintage clothing culture of the 1940s and ’50s as a way to help raise funds for good causes.
A recent event at the Eagles in Olympia raised $840 and the group, whose members include a software tester and a school teacher, have contributed to the Safeplace shelter for women and children.
A bingo event was held on Halloween, and the group is looking for more members to connect through its Facebook page.
PLANNING ACHIEVEMENTS:
On the 25th anniversary of Washington’s landmark Growth Management Act, more than 20 government agencies have been singled out for their work to bring order and efficiency to land-use development.
Among them is Thurston Regional Planning Council, which received one of the “Lifetime of GMA” achievement awards. TRPC brought together Thurston County and seven cities – Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Yelm, Tenino, Rainier, and Bucoda – to create a sustainable development plan in the county.
The effort spanned three years and was completed in 2013.
Other jurisdictions getting awards included Seattle and King County for their strategy for transferring development rights; and Tacoma for encouraging mixed-use centers, for its one-mile railroad corridor through downtown, and for other improvements to an historic zone.
An event marking the passage of the GMA in 1990 and local efforts is planned Nov. 13 in Tacoma at the Museum of Glass.
This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Tax advisory votes are not binding."