Fife following financial flexibility bills closely

With the busy legislative session underway in Olympia, there are several issues Fife city officials have been following with close interest.

One was a bill in the Senate that would have mandated the election of all municipal judges. Cities across the state handle this issue differently, with some opting for these judges to be elected and others like Fife having city councils appoint them.

“It came out of the blue to me,” Assistant City Manager Steve Marcotte said. “It would change how we do things here.”

That change is not likely this year. Marcotte said he heard earlier this week that the bill died in a committee.

Still alive are two bills on flexibility in spending certain tax revenue. Association of Washington Cities is lobby hard to pass these.

They address real estate excise taxes, which currently can be spent on capital costs. For example, Fife uses some of its REET money creating new parks. The change would allow the city to use some money on maintenance and operating.

This would give the city flexibility in how to spending money from a source of revenue that has been declining with the downturn in the real estate market. “REET revenue for everybody is way down,” Marcotte said.

Currently, gambling taxes can be spent on enforcing gaming regulations. The proposed change would allow cities to use this money for law enforcement operations.

One bill calls for the change to last through 2014, then revert to the former method. The other would make the change permanent. Marcotte expects one of them to pass this year. “This would really help local governments,” he said, noting this would not enact any new taxes.

Fife does not have an employee specifically assigned to lobby in Olympia. This year Marcotte and Police Chief Brad Blackburn are handling this duty. They went to Olympia at the beginning of the session to discuss Fife’s priorities with senators and representatives from this area.

“They understood what is important to us,” Marcotte said. “They are interested in what we do.”

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