Gov. Jay Inslee vetoes tax break for Washington state manufacturers
Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday vetoed a tax break to give manufacturers the same deal as Boeing.
Washington manufacturers would have received a 40 percent business-and-occupation (B&O tax) reduction over four years starting in 2019. More than 10,000 companies would have benefitted, according to the state Department of Revenue.
The B&O tax is .484 percent for manufacturing businesses now and would have been reduced under the law to .2904 percent. The cuts would have cost the state $64 million.
The Legislature simultaneously raised state property taxes to boost state public school funding by $7.3 billion over the next four years to comply with the Washington state Supreme Courts McCleary ruling requiring the state to fully fund basic education.
Property taxes are expected to increase by hundreds of dollars for homeowners in Seattle, Bellevue and other affluent school districts.
In a letter explaining his decision to veto the bill, Inslee said 21 percent of the revenue would have gone to out-of-state oil companies and the state needs tax revenue to fund services including education, mental health and public safety.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/07/07/inslee-vetoes-manufacturer-tax-break-washington.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2017-07-07&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1499485046&j=78516501