OLYMPIA – King County would gain greater leeway in determining its economic future under legislation proposed today by Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle.

Senate Bill 6116 would give county officials the ability to raise money for local programs by collecting a variety of taxes:

• a lodging tax of up to 2 percent;
• a 2 percent local hotel motel tax;
• a local car rental taxes of 1 and 2 percent;
• a 0.5 percent restaurant sales tax; and
• sales tax credits of .017 and .016 percent.

“This gives local officials the ability to choose which taxes are appropriate for their community and the freedom to decide which local projects will be funded,” Murray said. “It provides a greater level of local control.”

The legislation is all about options, not mandates, he added.

“This will let King County pick and choose which taxes it wants to increase, and to what extent, within the maximum limits,” Murray said. “The county can do nothing, it can do some, or it can do everything. But the bottom line is it receives local control over local funding and programs.”

The taxes can be applied to a wide range of local programs and projects, including:

• arts museums, cultural museums, heritage museums, heritage and preservation programs, the arts, and the performing arts;
• youth sports activities, tourism promotion, and acquisition of open space; and
• principal and interest on bonds issued for capital projects.

The funds raised for arts, cultural and tourism programs cannot be used to replace or supplant funding already provided by the county for those respective programs.

# # #

For more information: Jeff Reading, 360-786-7845

For interviews: Sen. Ed Murray, 360-786-7628