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Council reviews proposal to place emergency-services sales tax on ballot to offset tourism impacts
Summary
Staff presented a resolution to ask voters to approve an emergency-services sales tax (staff framed the ask as a half-percent option) to help pay for fire, EMS, law enforcement, search-and-rescue and landfill impacts from tourism; staff estimated a half-percent could generate up to $15 million and council asked for final ballot language and revenue projections at the next meeting.
County staff presented draft language for a resolution to submit a ballot proposition authorizing an emergency-services sales tax to mitigate tourism impacts. Matt Lovett told the council the proposition can authorize up to 1 percent but the current proposition’s intent is a half-percent and he explained allowable exemptions: groceries, gasoline, and prescribed medicines would be excluded.
Lovett said the county estimated the tourism-related impact on county programs at about $15,000,000 and that a half-percent sales tax "could…
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