Takko upset by focus on Seattle for tax monies
Saturday, February 25, 2006 11:30 PM PST
By Don Jenkins
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA --- Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview, can't cheer much for legislation to expand Seattle's KeyArena, not after the curtain fell on a bill that could have helped the Columbia Theatre and other small theaters outside King County.
"It does kind of affect your thinking when you can't get a few million for your good programs and they want hundreds of millions in Seattle," Takko said.
Following a script used before by pro sports franchises, Seattle Sonics principal owner Howard Schultz has warned the team may move unless taxpayers finance a $200 million fix-up of the basketball arena.
Lawmakers between now and the end of the session March 9 could provide the money by extending hotel, rental car and restaurant taxes now being collected in King County. The taxes are due to begin expiring in a few years as Safeco and Qwest field debts are paid off.
Asked what he thought of the plan, Takko brought up House Bill 2882, which sits lifeless in the House Finance Committee. The bill would have allowed local governments outside King County to divert sales taxes from the state general fund to renovate small theaters.
Yakima drove the legislation. That city wants to revitalize its downtown with a renovated theater. The legislation would have created opportunities for other cities with small theaters, including the Columbia Theatre.
The plan had a drawback, though. If every eligible place took advantage of the tax credit, the state's general fund would lose a significant amount of money, perhaps as much as $6.5 million the first year, according to the Office of Financial Management.
The Sonics bill doesn't present that problem to legislators. The state doesn't receive the stadium taxes, so it won't lose money by their extension.
Continuing the taxes would generate tens of millions of dollars each year beyond what's needed for Key Arena.
Senate Bill 6849 would allow King County to spend the money on museums, performing arts centers and "other civic amenities," a catchall category that could be justified to build who-knows-what. A sewer plant?
King County's open-ended access to the money gives Takko another reason to not like the bill.
"I wouldn't do it for my own county!"
Tsunami warning --- The House budget proposal includes $950,000 to install 20 loudspeakers mounted on poles to alert people on Washington beaches of an incoming tsunami, doubling the funding for 10 loudspeakers contained in the Senate budget.
The warnings, beamed via satellite from Camp Murray in Tacoma, would be heard more than a mile away.
The state Military Department’s Emergency Management Division calculates that 96 loudspeakers are needed to blanket the coast with a simultaneous alert.
The department already has federal money for 10 loudspeakers and plans to have those up by the middle of this year.
"We were hopeful we'd get at least another 10 from the state," department spokesman Rob Harper said. "The people here were pleasantly surprised by the numbers the House added."
Legislative process --- You knew something was up when Men in Suits came to the governor’s weekly press conference: Doctors and lawyers had agreed on some changes to medical-malpractice laws.
The compromise brokered by Gov. Chris Gregoire came after the medical and legal professions spent $14 million on competing, and complex, initiatives last fall. Following a bitter campaign, voters rejected both.
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said it was better to force the sides to negotiate a deal than impose a ballot-box solution.
"When issues are as complicated as this was, the ability to do it right rests, unfortunately perhaps, with a smaller number of people," he said.
Don Jenkins can be contacted in The Daily News' Olympia bureau at 360-705-9438 or don.jenkins@tdn.com.
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