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Pullman staff recommend revisiting decade‑old sales‑tax formula that funnels surplus to capital projects
Summary
City staff told council the longstanding formula that earmarks sales‑tax growth for capital improvements has produced a large restricted balance and may be out of balance with current operating needs; staff offered options including raising the baseline, reducing the percentage directed to CIP, or unrestricting part of the balance.
Interim city administrator Jeff Albrecht presented a historical review of a sales‑tax designation enacted in 2010 that directs surplus sales‑tax revenue above a baseline into a capital improvement (CIP) reserve. Albrecht told the council the formula has worked but that cumulative results now require reconsideration to avoid constraining operations.
Albrecht summarized the mechanism: when quarterly sales‑tax collections exceed a baseline average (stated in the original ordinance as $594,000 per quarter), half of the surplus (after excluding construction sales tax volatility) was earmarked for capital, with the other half…
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