The Skagit 911 Board of Directors voted Wednesday to advise a .1% sales tax increase be set on the November ballot.
This opportunity tax boost continue to needs to be permitted by the Skagit County Board of Commissioners ahead of it can look on the ballot. Even so, all 3 commissioners sit on the 911 board, and all voted in favor of Wednesday’s advice.
Helen Rasmussen, government director of Skagit 911, claimed a .1% gross sales tax improve will generate about $3.6 million a yr in extra earnings, and will give a responsible funding source for new technological know-how, emergency radio advancements and maybe a new facility.
The recommendation was handed by a 7-1 vote.
Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton opposed the suggestion, declaring Skagit 911 has not justified its ask for for such an maximize.
A .1% revenue tax maximize — which would increase $1 to a $1,000 purchase — signifies a 47% increase in the dispatch center’s profits, he reported.
About 35% of the county’s revenue tax earnings is gathered in the town of Burlington, and more than a third of that comes from automotive revenue, Sexton stated. Citizens in neighboring counties come to Burlington to obtain vehicles simply because they know that with a comparatively lower income tax in Burlington they can save a few hundred dollars.
“Every incremental boost in income tax forfeits a portion of that competitive edge,” he explained. “We can’t reduce sight of that.”
Skagit 911 is predominately funded by an present .1% profits tax, as properly as user service fees charged to city and county crisis companies. Rasmussen mentioned this proposed profits tax enhance would retain consumer costs in check out.
She stated county management has been talking about the want for a new dispatch middle because 2013, but has by no means put aside revenue to fund it.
This new funding would give them the opportunity to do so, she reported.
Mount Vernon Fire Main Bryan Brice stated the need for extra funding is clear to anybody who operates in emergency services.
He stated general public officials are from time to time hesitant to request for the revenue they will need to do something effectively, and as an alternative settle for what they’ve obtained. He said it is time for Skagit 911 to question for funding to construct a modern procedure.
“Maybe if you’re not in the business you can’t see … but we are woefully powering,” he stated. “It all commences with 911.”
