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Tumwater finance director: sales tax up 5% year-to-date, property-tax refund will cost city about $450,000
Summary
The Tumwater finance director told the Budget & Finance Committee that sales tax is roughly 5% ahead year-to-date while lodging tax lags 9.6% behind 2025; a successful property-tax appeal triggered a refund about $450,000 that reduced July collections and could be applied against the 2027 levy.
The committee received a monthly financial briefing from the city finance director, Troy, who said revenue is mixed but broadly stable halfway through the year. "So we're running 5% ahead, on sales tax year to date, which is great," Troy said, and he added that public-safety sales tax is about "6.5 percent ahead" while business-and-occupation receipts are roughly 1% higher year-to-date.
Troy told the committee a property-tax valuation appeal by a private investor group — described in the briefing as the Vine Street investors for a building referenced as "310 Israel" — was successful with Thurston County and the county is issuing a multi-year refund. "So our share of that, for both this the city and the TMPD is about $450,000," Troy said, adding the city already issued an interim check of "about $271,000" that lowered July collections. He said the city can choose to apply the refunded amount when setting the 2027 levy, which would mitigate part of the near-term impact on revenues.
Why this matters: the combination of uneven lodging receipts and the one-time tax refund changes near-term budget optics as staff prepares the mayor's proposed budget by Aug. 31. Committee members asked staff to add more context to the budget slides for "miscellaneous" revenue lines so viewers understand what comprises larger lump-sum entries.
