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Hinkle bill to shift timber tax revenue to
counties signed into law
Gov. Gary Locke signed
Substitute House Bill 2693 on Friday, giving counties access to 80
percent of the excise tax collected on timber harvested from their
public lands. HB 2693, prime sponsored by
Rep.
Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, will help counties pay for vital
services now being cut because of shrinking budgets.
“We’ve been having tough
economic times in Washington, and that’s been very hard on county
governments,” said Hinkle. “This new law will give county budgets a shot
in the arm and help them deliver some of the basic services they’ve had
to eliminate.”
Washington imposes a 5
percent tax on timber harvested from public land. In the past, all of
that money has gone to the state’s coffers. The new law authorizes
counties to impose a 4 percent tax on this timber, but it is credited
against the state timber tax, so the harvester still pays a total rate
of 5 percent. The county’s share is phased in (while the state’s is
phased out) starting at 1.2 percent and moving up to 4 percent over a 10
year period. With the law, timber harvested from public lands is treated
the same as that taken from private land, which is also taxed at 5
percent, with 1 percent going to the state and 4 percent to the
counties.
“This law doesn’t raise
taxes, it just shifts the revenue already collected to the county,” said
Hinkle. “Money that used to go to state coffers for use everywhere in
Washington will now be used locally to help people right where that
timber grows.”
House Bill 2693 takes effect 90 days from the end of the 2004 session,
which adjourned March 11.
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For more information, contact:
John Handy, Assistant
Communications Director - (360) 786-5758
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