Moses Lake votes down realty tax

MOSES LAKE - In an improving housing market, Moses Lake's city council voted against raising a tax on home sales at its last meeting.

The ordinance, requested by Councilmember Dick Deane at a May city council meeting, would have added an addition quarter of a percent to the real estate excise tax. If the tax was approved, the city would receive about $160,000 in additional revenue each year, based on the quarter of a percent already in place. The money could be used for street repair and reconstruction projects, many of which won't be completed any time soon.

The city is facing an estimated $3 million deficit in this year's budget.

The added revenue wouldn't put a dent in the budget deficit caused by the agreement with Grant County in the REC Silicon settlement.

By law, the city is allowed to add the addition tax, which all but four cities (Mattawa, Warden, Moses Lake and Marlin) in the county have enacted, according to Deane. Grant County also enforced the extra quarter percent tax.

Deane and fellow Councilmember Brent Reese, the only two to vote in favor of the ordinance Tuesday night, argued the extra revenue could help the city with the shortage of employees in the police and fire departments.

Moses Lake realtors Jeff Foster and Mark Fancher argued the additional tax could cause a burden in a recovering real estate market.

"It's not coming out of my pocket. It's coming out of the buyer's and seller's pocket," Foster said.

Fancher agreed, adding many home sales right now are coming down to a few dollars and the additional tax could be the difference whether a house is sold.

Even with a motion by Deane to enact the tax on a temporary basis for three years to cover the budget shortfall, other councilmembers felt this was not the time.

The ordinance can be returned to at any time by council, according to City Manager Joseph Gavinski. The addition tax has been brought up to other city councils, but has never come down to a vote.

This time around, the matter was suggested in an email to the city by Grant County Treasurer Darryl Pheasant.