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Good morning.
We need your help. The City is in danger of losing nearly $5 million in annual streamlined sales tax revenue that supports critical city services. The fate of that revenue is in the hands of our legislators. We need your help to ensure that critical revenue is retained in the final state operating budget for 2019-21.
Why are we losing so much money? When the legislature changed from origin-based to destination-based sales tax in 2008, it cut our revenue by $12-$14 million a year. Kent was the #1 impacted city in the state, and the legislature promised to make mitigation payments until we were made whole. Despite that promise, mitigation is set to end in October. We need the legislature to act now and restore its commitment to our community.
We have met with legislators, and I have testified before the House and Senate in Olympia multiple times. It is important that they hear from you too.
Please support our city by sending an email now to the senators listed below. Ask them to do the right thing – honor the commitment made to Kent. At the bottom of this email, I’ve included a sample email you can use or edit.
This funding is vital in providing you with the city services you want and need from the City of Kent. Please help us protect that funding by reaching out to these senators today. We are grateful for your support!
Thank you,
Mayor Dana Ralph
Senators:
Sen. Christine Rolfes – Christine.Rolfes@leg.wa.gov
Sen. David Frockt - David.Frockt@leg.wa.gov
Sen. Andy Billig – Andy.Billig@leg.wa.gov
Sen. Mark Mullet - Mark.Mullet@leg.wa.gov
Sen. John Braun - John.Braun@leg.wa.gov
Sen. Sharon Brown - Sharon.Brown@leg.wa.gov
Dear Senator _______________________:
As a resident of Kent, I am asking you to support the House of Representatives’ approach to restoring streamlined sales tax mitigation to the City of Kent in the 2019-21 operating budget. The House approach restores mitigation payments to the City and reduces them over time as revenue under the Marketplace Fairness Act and Wayfair legislation increases. This honors the legislature’s prior commitment and allows Kent to continue to provide important city services that support jobs and our state economy.
Thank you for your consideration.
[Your name goes here]
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