Public safety/local tax

AN ACT Relating to expanding local taxing authority to fund 1
public safety and community protection focused programs and services; 2
and amending RCW 82.14.450 and 82.14.340. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 82.14.450 and 2021 c 296 s 6 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) ((A)) (a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a 7
county legislative authority may submit an authorizing proposition to 8
the county voters at a primary or general election and, if the 9
proposition is approved by a majority of persons voting, impose a 10
sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The 11
title of each ballot measure must clearly state the purposes for 12
which the proposed sales and use tax will be used. The rate of tax 13
under this section may not exceed ((three-tenths of one)) 0.3 percent 14
of the selling price in the case of a sales tax, or value of the 15
article used, in the case of a use tax. 16
(b) A county legislative authority that adopts an ordinance or 17
resolution to impose the tax under (a) of this subsection by January 18
1, 2028, may impose the tax under (a) of this subsection without 19
submitting an authorizing proposition to the county voters at a 20
primary or general election.21
S-1721.2
SENATE BILL 5775
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senator Slatter
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(2)(a) ((A)) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a city 1
legislative authority may submit an authorizing proposition to the 2
city voters at a primary or general election and, if the proposition 3
is approved by a majority of persons voting, impose a sales and use 4
tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The title of each 5
ballot measure must clearly state the purposes for which the proposed 6
sales and use tax will be used. The rate of tax under this subsection 7
may not exceed ((one-tenth of one )) 0.1 percent of the selling price 8
in the case of a sales tax, or value of the article used, in the case 9
of a use tax. ((A city may not begin imposing a tax approved by the 10
voters under this subsection prior to January 1, 2011.))11
(b) Beginning December 31, 2025, a city legislative authority 12
that adopts an ordinance or resolution to impose the tax under (a) of 13
this subsection by January 1, 2028, may impose the tax under (a) of 14
this subsection without submitting an authorizing proposition to the 15
city voters at a primary or general election.16
(c) If a county adopts an ordinance or resolution to ((submit a 17
ballot proposition to the voters to )) impose the sales and use tax 18
under subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section prior to a city within 19
the county adopting an ordinance or resolution to ((submit a ballot 20
proposition to the voters to )) impose the tax under (a) or (b) of 21
this subsection, the rate of tax by the city under this subsection 22
may not exceed an amount that would cause the total county and city 23
tax rate under this section to exceed ((three-tenths of one )) 0.3 24
percent. This subsection (2)(((b))) (c) also applies if the county 25
and city adopt an ordinance or resolution to impose sales and use 26
taxes under this section on the same date. 27
(((c))) (d) If the city adopts an ordinance or resolution to 28
((submit a ballot proposition to the voters to )) impose the sales and 29
use tax under (a) or (b) of this subsection prior to the county in 30
which the city is located, the county must provide a credit against 31
its tax under subsection (1) of this section for the city tax under 32
this subsection to the extent the total county and city tax rate 33
under this section would exceed ((three-tenths of one)) 0.3 percent.34
(3) The tax authorized in this section is in addition to any 35
other taxes authorized by law and must be collected from those 36
persons who are taxable by the state under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 37
RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within the county.38
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(4) The retail sale or use of motor vehicles, and the lease of 1
motor vehicles for up to the first ((thirty-six)) 36 months of the 2
lease, are exempt from tax imposed under this section.3
(5) ((One-third)) (a) If the tax authorized under this section is 4
imposed by a county or city with voter approval, one-third of all 5
money received under this section must be used solely for criminal 6
justice purposes, fire protection purposes, community protection 7
purposes, or ((both)) public safety purposes, including but not 8
limited to, behavioral health, co-responder, and diversion treatment 9
programs and services. For the purposes of this subsection, "criminal 10
justice purposes" ((has the same meaning as provided in RCW 11
82.14.340, except that from May 13, 2021, through December 31, 2023, 12
"criminal justice purposes" )) includes local government programs 13
which have a reasonable relationship to reducing the numbers of 14
people interacting with the criminal justice system including, but 15
not limited to, reducing homelessness or improving behavioral health.16
(b) If the tax authorized under this section is imposed by a 17
county or city by ordinance or resolution without voter approval, all 18
money received under this section must be used for the purposes 19
described in (a) of this subsection.20
(6) Money received by a county under subsection (1) of this 21
section must be shared between the county and the cities as follows: 22
60 percent must be retained by the county and 40 percent must be 23
distributed on a per capita basis to cities in the county.24
(7) Tax proceeds received by a city imposing a tax under this 25
section must be shared between the county and city as follows: 15 26
percent must be distributed to the county and 85 percent is retained 27
by the city. 28
Sec. 2. RCW 82.14.340 and 2021 c 296 s 5 are each amended to 29
read as follows: 30
(1) The legislative authority of any county may fix and impose a 31
sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter, 32
provided that such sales and use tax is subject to repeal by 33
referendum, using the procedures provided in RCW 82.14.036. The 34
referendum procedure provided in RCW 82.14.036 is the exclusive 35
method for subjecting any county sales and use tax ordinance or 36
resolution to a referendum vote. 37
(2) The tax authorized in this section is in addition to any 38
other taxes authorized by law and must be collected from those 39
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persons who are taxable by the state pursuant to chapters 82.08 and 1
82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within such 2
county. The rate of tax equals ((one-tenth of one )) 0.1 percent of 3
the selling price (in the case of a sales tax) or value of the 4
article used (in the case of a use tax). 5
(3) When distributing moneys collected under this section, the 6
state treasurer must distribute 10 percent of the moneys to the 7
county in which the tax was collected. The remainder of the moneys 8
collected under this section must be distributed to the county and 9
the cities within the county ratably based on population as last 10
determined by the office of financial management. In making the 11
distribution based on population, the county must receive that 12
proportion that the unincorporated population of the county bears to 13
the total population of the county and each city must receive that 14
proportion that the city incorporated population bears to the total 15
county population. 16
(4) Moneys received from any tax imposed under this section must 17
be expended for criminal justice purposes. ((Criminal justice 18
purposes are defined as )) For purposes of this section, "criminal 19
justice purposes" means activities that substantially assist the 20
criminal justice system, ((which may include)) including co-responder 21
and diversion treatment services and circumstances where ancillary 22
benefit to the civil justice system occurs, and which includes 23
domestic violence services such as those provided by domestic 24
violence programs, community advocates, and legal advocates, as 25
defined in RCW 70.123.020. After May 13, 2021, through December 31, 26
2023, "criminal justice purposes " includes local government programs 27
which have a reasonable relationship to reducing the numbers of 28
people interacting with the criminal justice system including, but 29
not limited to, reducing homelessness or improving behavioral health.30
(5) In the expenditure of funds for criminal justice purposes as 31
provided in this section, cities and counties, or any combination 32
thereof, are expressly authorized to participate in agreements, 33
pursuant to chapter 39.34 RCW, to jointly expend funds for criminal 34
justice purposes of mutual benefit. Such criminal justice purposes of 35
mutual benefit include, but are not limited to, the construction, 36
improvement, and expansion of jails, court facilities, juvenile 37
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justice facilities, and services with ancillary benefits to the civil 1
justice system. 2
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