Adams County sales tax rose this month

ADAMS COUNTY — Adams County’s voter-approved 0.1 percent sales tax hike went into effect at the beginning of the month.

The sales tax for the county rose from 7.6 percent to 7.7 percent. The raise was voted on during the November election and will be spent on communication systems and facilities.

“It was something that we offered as an option to the voters,” Commissioner Rudy Plager said. “We recognized the fact that we were facing a budget deficit and we wanted to offset some of the cuts that we were going to have to do.”

For now, the tax increase will help the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch center located in Ritzville, Wash. Plager said this will help the county retain personnel at the center.

“The biggest cost is ?personnel,” he said. “The state kind of back-fills us on the electronics and a lot of the other things that are needed other than personnel.”

The county faced an estimated $1.2 million deficit going into the 2009 budget. This was about 16 percent of their $7.5 million budget. The county managed to cut the amount of the projected deficit down to about $400,000, Plager said. The county plans to use their $1 million reserves to cover the amount.

“We were pleased that the voters felt it was a worthy enough county department. We were never sure when we put that on the ballot whether it would pass,” he said.

The county estimates the tax will bring in about $200,000 in its first year. They plan to eventually use the money to remodel the existing center, he said.

“It’s like many things in the county. It’s grown in the years. We certainly don’t have any plans in the future of building our own 9-1-1 center separate of the facility,” Plager said.