Title
Tax Equity Initiative Recommendation
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing on the Tax Equity Initiative and recommend approval of initiative and forward to City Council for consideration.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing on the Tax Equity Initiative and recommend approval of initiative and forward to City Council for consideration.
Staff Contact:
Thomas Donnelly, Billing & Collections Manager, 360.753.3816
Presenter(s):
Brandie Andrews, Tax and License Analyst, City of Olympia
Background and Analysis:
Washington provides its cities authority to license for revenue, meaning businesses operating here must obtain an Olympia endorsement on their state business license and file Olympia tax returns. In the past five years, Olympia's business taxpayer base has grown by 30% -- from about 9,000 to 12,000 businesses.
The City relies on voluntary compliance for payment of business licenses and B&O taxes. While the City has seen a 30% growth in business taxpayer base, B&O filings for that same time period has only seen a 2% increase. This drop in the percentage of businesses filing has created a tax equity concern where some businesses abide by the City tax code and others, for whatever reason, are not. All businesses are required to file B&O returns, whether there is an amount due or not.
The creation of a tax equity team will provide resources for the City to both educate and audit business to provide reasonable assurance that all business are complying with the City's tax rules and regulations. While the goal of this work-team is tax equity, we expect an increase in revenue which would at least pay for the tax team.
Climate Analysis:
This agenda item is expected to result in no impact to greenhouse gas emissions.
Equity Analysis:
Currently all businesses operating in Olympia have identical access to information about local business licensing and tax...
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