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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM120985 -~,~ ..HeF'E'E&8WN CO'tJNTY" B~A. D QF 60.MMISSIEONERS' District No. 1 Commissioner: District No. 2 Commissioner: District No. 3 Commissioner: Larry W.I Dennison, Member B.G. Br wn, Member John L.itts, Chairman I Clerk of the Board: Jerdine I. Bragg Public Works Director~ ,Gary A. lowe --------------------------------------------------- ---------------- I N 'U T B.S Week of December 9, 1985 Chairman John L. Pitts called the meeting to order at the appointed time in the presence of Commissioner B.G. Brown and Commis- sioner Larry W. Dennison. HEARING re: Proposed Gambling Tax Ordinan e; Chairman Pitts opened the hearing at the designated hour tor publi testimony on the proposed Gambling Tax Ordinance, with approximatel 38 interested area residents present for the hearing. ! , The Chairman asked for comments in favor of the pro:osed ordinance and being none then asked for the opposition's comments: Steve DeCou in- troduced himself and reported that he was invited t, be the svokesman for a group of owners and operators of businesses a:d non-profit organ- izations in this area because he had been involved 'ith this type of an ordinance last year in Clall~m cou, nty where he o~erates, a restaurant. Mr. DeCou then addressed the problems with the prop~sed t?X as follows: i , , * The City of Port Townsend has shown interest in ;his same tax and it they enacted an ordinance also none of the ta' from City businesses would go to the County, which would leave six Gointy businesses to justify the tax base.' Those businesses would be the Whistl ~_ng Oyster, Goeduck Tavern, V lley Tavern, Trails End Tavern Discovery Bay Tavern and Nancy's Restaurant. * ! this tax would create a hardshlLp on these a way that they would have to I! leave the boards longer to try a get a little m~re profit from is tax. The gross revenue from these items eciably. I! i, . The tax is based n the gross income from the ga&bling devices which makes the p rcentage higher than it seems .Ii The Town of Forks imposed this tax about 5 years Ii ago which forced the one tavern in the area to give up handling t~e gambling devices. The City Council f Forks has since repealed thii: tax. , New businesses will take this tax into considera:ion when looking to locate in this area and probably would not loiate here. The State Gamblin Commission has increased lice!se fees approx- imately 200070 in the last two years'. The rD sta&p on the back of each game has gon up 150%, in addition the cost I! of ,each game, has gone up from the istributors. These increases i'ave been devastating to businesses. i , , The largest problem of small business right now's insurance costs. Under the propose tax (RCW 9.46.113) the County must use the revenue generated from the tax primarily for the enforcementof the The imposition of businesses in suc and pull tabs out them to pay for t would go down app * * * * * l VOl it fAGE 0030858 "~tiJ Minutes, Week of De ember 9, 1985 I' Page 2: Hearing re: Propose Gambling Tax Ordinance (GOntin~ed): , provisionsof the State Gambling Laws. Originall,~, IIprimar, ily" was assumed to be 51~ or greater of these revenues tip be used for en- forcement. The heriff of this County has indiCIf!ted that there is not a gambling p oblem in this County and even i~ he did have funds available throug this tax, they would not be used for gambling enforcement. * Businesses are c rrently paying fees to the Stat,~which go for licen ~e fees" bo, kkeepin~, en f orcem:nt and aUdi,',tti., The local, State Gambl~ng Enforce ent Offlcer for thls area, Cind; Reed, handles any problems tha come up with gambling enfbrc.emnt. , , In summary Mr. DeCo asked the Board to look at thei! community and the businesses in it an not make them a scapego~t for the taxation, and. budgetary problems hat the County is facin~. This :ordinance if passed would deteriorate t e present system and causedeva~tation' to the businesses in this ommunity. ,i i' Ii Nancy McConaghy, 0 er of Nancy's Place, presented I$tatements on their gambling revenues f r November as reported to the Sltate. The gross for November was $5,831.00 with the actual cash bei~g $1,927.75. The games cost $495.00 ith the State's 1~i'ocoming to $~9.79. The County's proposed 5i'0 would b an additional $322.95 which WOI, ld leave a net cash of $1,299.28. Ther w re 13,280 tickets that were, ot sold which had to be counted by ha d or the State as well as keep~ng track of all of the winners for six ths. The cost of rolling $61,458.75 worth of quarters has to be considere. There was a $300 license feel to start and the machines cost $300 ac. Insurance costs for the lounge and gambling machines is over $5,00 .00 per year. Nancy's Placel supports one bowling team, one ladies ba eb II team, one Little League fbotball team and one dart team as we I s donations to various commu' ity activities. The profit from the ambling devices is not much compared with what Nancy's gives back he community. I , V,alley Tavern uck Russell, ~~ined that t~vern and lounge owners are r nsible members of the commu~~ty,and listed the civic activities in eh he participates . Mr. Ruslsell further n.oted that the Valley Tav has been in continuous opera~ion for 50 years, providing employmen d taxes to this community. !trhere are presently three and sometimes r employees. If the gambli~g tax is passed, one person will have to be laid off. During the past YI~ar the Valley Tavern has done the. follow'ng. Paid real estate and prope-rty taxes of over $1,100.00; paid sals ax; donated all aluminumcanJ~ to the Girl Scouts; donate to the Junio L ttle League ball team, the A~erican Legion Salmon Derby, Uni tep. Good ei hbors, the VFW and a Thanksgl1i ving D.inner was ~ ,~~{~i ~,~~s c, ~m,e,..', ;::niiYs ~~ ~~,e ~,~~ ~t ;'~e'~ 1. wh~r/t~~, s~a ; ol',,'.~o p,a,s~:~~, ~~~e ~U~,;~i~ added, many of the xt as and donations will have tp be curtailed. A 5% tax on the gro s ambling revenue amounts to ~ third,to a half of the gamblingl profit d pending on how efficiently t, e operation is run and how often peopl ,w n. There is no way that thii~ tax can be passed along to the consum r ecause of the strict State rlegulation of gambling. Mr. Russell stated ha in his opinion this is an iillegal tax, because the State law has b en interpreted to mean that thils revenue can be spent for th;ings ot er than gambling enforcement,b4t this is a perversion of the governmental sy tern and the law should mean what it says. Mr. Russell then pr se ted a letter from Dr. John arrett in Hadlock, stating his opposit.on to this proposed ordinance. ' , , stling Oystbr Tavern,repres~nting Mr. Hal Turner, fit and loss statements fro i June of 1985 tm'show er Tavern'slprofits..Ms. L~~n further stated ~~b;~r~ ~~V~~i~,~r;i~~O~~et~er', ~~~~t~Vf~~,:a:a~~fing. x the gross] which does not take into consideration payo.ut"s, IPst"boards,a ndt~~,p urcha s"e 9",f, the board. ade $11,000!on gambling, which would mean a tax ty 5%. Thel net profit for the tavern was $641. 00 tax wGluldrJlflve been p.;:tyable ~he net protit would e whole mon,fh. , ! I ! I I 1" 13859 ' , i .' '. nril ~,,' ' ", '=>>:. ,(AGE W) I Helen Lynn from the presented copies of the Whi~tling that the profits fr the business"would This .ordinance woul the amount of money Dastmonth the tave of 561.00 for the las month and if t hav been $52.50 fo lYi3L Wee~ of De.ember 9, 1985 ing re: Propose Gambling Tax ~rdinance (Cantin ed): Whistling Oyste would have tollay off employeeli if this tax is sed. Ms. Lynn hen listed thet' civic ciLctivitiesr that the tavern . up o1'"ts ,and, noted hCit . t~ese acti i ties tould have'1 to be limited if ;;t:;;;~:~;;:;~:;; m;;;~;~;:;;;;:~h~~~bil~~i~a~:!k~~ ~~~~i~~a~~~ eedy in the commun.ty, has mainly tone so~rce of in orne which is the arnival at the Had ock Days festifities. I This cariival t4kes in about 9,000 gross which . ould be taxed, if thi$ ordinancr is pa$sed, for 400 to $500.00. T is, amount does' t loolt like aloF until i you realize hat is done, with t is money in do ationslt,o variou~ civic ',Organizations nd activities, nee ed items such s eye glasses anij hearir).g aids for eedy people. Mr. anke asked tha the Bci>ard consi~er notiimposing this i ' , ax. , i i Ii' dgren Distribu ing, g~ve,an ove view of the problems oplerepresent d at t~e hearing have e~dured over at times have changediover the last tel) years. The re,' with liabilt ty ins ~ran ce req,'f',. ired ,f9, :- taverns se some of thefe estalDlishments, even wlthout the ax. The taver~s that~lcan stilliget in$urance are p,.",remiums of. 1p .,0 to 1',00'%,0 WhiCh,li.., most ,tci.,. verns cannot n asked that tte Boar cQnsiderial1 of it he facts pproving this ax. I ' ! , ! ' , 'i Chairman Pitts aske the patience f the ~udience t explciin ,) why this Ordinance has been roposed. The, evenues to Jeffel'son Cot;1nty from this tax, which cou d have been imposed a~ early as 1973, would have been $15,000 to $i16,000 his year, whicp doesnrt sound I ke.much to ~he County's budget. This would be half of a p!trOlma*,s salary for a year r two- thirds or more of a clerical perso 's sal.$.ry. Afte" the questi n was raised about,. how th'" s money COUld', e used~ it. was, v rified~, with the State that 51% of the tax received must 0 towards,gambli g and the e~force- ment of this: law. he Sheriff infrrmed tfue Board I, st week tha~ his department has not pent that much on gam~ling enfo~cementover the past few years rria1-nly be ause the taverns haveibeen self! policing on their gambling activities. I Ii! The Chairman went 0 to explain thrt the ~ounty has! the same ty e of insurance problems hat these busiresses a.refacingl~ and that m ny of the taxes imposed 0 such .items as alcohot and Ciga~' ettes has nt been used towards such t ings as rehabi' i tatio1jl and law 'nforcement, Iprevention andresearch'as"it hould have beep. The I Chairman I hen thanked those present for their t stimony and adyisedtbem that t~is testimon had educated himi in are s that he had not thmllght aboutl~ After fur her Sharing funds will ave on Jeffers n County, fur the publiC:: tes imony resumed. ' . ' I : Jean O'Connor, form r owner of thetHil1 TJp Tavern, informed th Board that this tax would have been 26% f theiavern's n t income, b sed on last year's figures, which is not small I tax. ! . J Commander of, Post 2 of the Americ, n. LegiJn, Hersch,' Atki+, son,'. reported that the American L gion sponsors tinany programs in ,he communit ,,' and if thiS, tax is i, mposed the,se programs I would fu"ave to bel:, cutbac~. Thf Veterans Service Officer, wh ~ssists veter,ns in JII areas ~f the County! would not be reimbU'", rsed f r his travel, leI, epho$e charges!! and sta,., mps, Iwhich would make it hard or anyone to d this job since 'hey do ,not X1eceive any other compensation for their t me. i i I Th ' i d f h K. L l d il B . ., '.. IH e past pres ent,t e ltsap tce,nse , everage ',sso,clat,..,lon,~' arry Jens, reported that he had been inyolved ~ith this 'ype ofiprob em around the State at various times. I. Mr. J$nsadded hat this ta , which is small compared t what is neede?- to rur!1the County) will : have la massive impact on many of t e people in business in the Cou'ty. Tq.e or~ginal legislation was, passed to help dettr cimir),al e, lemen s coming in ito an area and was'primar ly to be ,spent on gam~ling enfo'cement~ ! ernie Lundgren, Lu hat the business p he years, noting t roblems in the fut and lounges Will cl imposition of this seeing increases i afford. Mr. Lundgr when they co-p.sider ., l VaL 11 rAbt 038 0 Min tes, Week of December 9, 1985 Pag 4: i , , Hea ing re: Proposed Gambling Tax Ordinance (Contittu . I The County has no history of gambling problems here;, ued,and,if you pass t,hiS tax YOU,W,OUld h,ave to,ta14',e a p sition, train a person, and provide an office ju to ustify passing this tax. It is possible that ',t ~at re, legislation will be introdtlced to eliminat ! l t as been proven that it is not needed. Mr. J ens !c tes imony by strongly urging the Board to reconsid ir thi tax. : , , San hav occ She lic y Davis, owner of the Boarding House, stated a gambling license now but has had in sion to call a law enforcement officer advised that if this tax is assed she nse. She iff Lee Smith noted that eac gam~ling licenses do police thei Dep rtment records indicate thre fiv years into gambling type co Com~issioner Brown moved to deny tax lordinance. Commissioner Den vot d unanimously:irt favor of it. tha it was not the Board's inte Mis.nformation waS rece~ved Tega cou d be used for land the impact anQ everyone of p o~ gambling act.~ investigations 0 ~ plai ts. oi " pass ge bf the pr p ison seconded them . Com issi oner Den~!i tiOt). to overburde ' , ding what, therev:n,.. that it would hav : , i , ! FROM COUNTY DEPARTMENTS: In esponse to EII'a Sandvig's qu for the activities, of the Human her to contact Homer Smith Insur tha are covered by the County's Ell Sandvig then iasked the Boar ded ct the amount iof dependent h of hose employee~ in her depart pay that premium to the health i Cur ently the empl:oyees of the H their own dependent health insur all w the County to deduct this pay and send the check to the in this could be done and Ella Sand men regarding thVs matter. or, 'Human Service r rown move to ealth as recommen e issioner Dennisonl!s stions regarding in ervices Department!, nce!and have them !r insurance. , I : ! if ,they would allp alth insurance pre~ entwho desire such surance carrier f~~ man'Services Depa, ~ nce coverage. Thip nsurance premium fir U1lTance carrier. ~~ ig Will write a P1~ II II ourthouse due to Jb o oWlng as a po is closed due to i did not come to p I be given a choi e y, comp-time day, p option ~nd direc ~ I ernithat making t.k could only be don I p time would be p ~ it was agreed th ~ policy will be d.s dqpted. 1 Policy re: Closure Com issioner ennl'son 0 ere t employees pay when the Courthous con itions: "Thosie employees wh Nov mber 22, 1985 'due to snow wi Hea, of taking a 'floating holi.d or the time may b~ made up at th Hea " ' issioner Brown expressed con pressed in such a way that this is ehind in work and this make fur her discussion of this issue be eleted from the policy. Th nex staff meeting before being LVOL OGti 3861 I Mr. J ens Jntin- money to create t to spendilm, oney the next I gis- his tax be ause nclilded hi and not pa s I I she does mot nd never htd a problem pply for a1gambling businesse: with ties. The Sheriff's the last our to , sed gambliJg tionarrl the I Board on then stlted ny small b siness. e from the tax n business s. I I I e: Mental tal th rove tea en ment by Ella S~ndvig, conded thelmotion. urancec,ovJrage the Board directed port onth~ services I her deparJment to urns from,t~e salary coverage a4d then the employ~e. ent have t~aY for procedure ould in the empl ye~s Board cOne d-that cy for her depart- I ther condiJions; cy to ea IWlt clement we4ther k on Frida! by their D partment a vacatio day, n of the DjPartment up should be ex- f the depa tment uctive. A~ter the last oRtion. ussed at tij.e Min ~es, Week of Decembe 9, 1985 Pag 5 : i PUBLIC WORKS Agreements ict =# an prove t e enta Agr is being remodeled f r one year at' a rate occupy the adpitiona n. I , ' ental Agreement for for ne year ~t a ~ate of Comm. ssioner Brown" secon . I ~ lS t commenc~ on January , : Let~er of Agree Fund ng for nstruct on son move to ave t ment wit the. Depart , ' n of 50%1 of the loca s River Bridge. Com I ' Sig~ Maintenanc he has at e t at a r the Si n Ma~ntenan helps the Parks Depa his emplfyee's salar be finel as long as I Flo~d Control:, rking upl a bu~get fo of prel~mina~y plan cts is anticipated f ol Districts. i I. , the Flobd Control D.str~cts w~uld be pro y Roads by any work one outside of the r tment co~ld contribu e $4,360 annually to 3,175tolthe Brinnon District which would elp protfct the Coun y roads. oard dir~cted' th Pu lic Works Department necessary to: se up these budgets and tr the RoadlFundjas ind.cated. I. PuumING I 1 I Murtay P~rl pointment re:Water Planning I Dire tor Davi 0, sm eporte t at Mr. Per made an ap~lication to I" cate a m;bi,le i.,. h 0 xt to the, Goeduck Ta Brinnon. ~he mobi e home w uld be d by the same water as the tavern and Mr. ,erley wa grallte ne year variance to he use of this watet system fhichido t have State approva . r- Rand Durant',IEnvir,on I Health Director, r that he ha6 checked wi th the Stat~ and th ve not received arty rom Mr. perlley so t at the wfter sys an be given the nece pproval. I Mr. Mrs. Pet-ley wer pr sent and Mr. Perley epor. d that he c~n not get tate app~ovali fo th.s water system bec~u_e_th _pro~~rty dO!'eS_~o~ meet the Statfreq1rlir men s.", Mr. "Perley clari ied at the tave n is supp led watet by the wel. ,wliIletlie mObTlem-e - a- - ilnaaarfio al --- ~~~~~~r e s;~~:m aF~:lt~S C~~K~aundrom~t are SiiPI'r"a ter y a~u _face Public Works Dire arks Department empl e Technic1an, while tment budget, since for this time. The verything is worked 0 ental of Courthouse ra re t non: ement Wlt r their use in the Courth , ' , of $99.67 per month and w, I not comm~nceuntil space. C,ommissioner Den! .son second~d the : 1 i Hice spac,e for PEJP Fede! 1 Credit uJion, $83.85 per. month was appr 'v dby motio* of ed by Commissioner Dennis . The agr~ement 1, 1986 after the office ace is rem1deled. ral Resourqe re: Comm ss 0 er he letter f r their co tri- nstruct thel motion. ary Rowe, rleported allowed to! fill n vacation,l.asneeded. .ll not hav~ to concurredtlhat this the Union.! is in the Jrocess rying to colver flood control Quilcene FlloOd service tO~he -ways the oad ilcene Distl.Lict eed these J::gets, This Gary Rowe reported flood control for 1 ing and possibly som r 1986 for the Brinn The step from to them val 11I"A{,EOO 3862 Randy Durant !explctined that originally s~ppli~d water fr (creek)~ Af~er he well was and put on a :qua tierly water not meet the Ireq ired setbac The quarterl~ wat~r samples The surface ~ate :system and from the pub~ic ater system Social and Healt :Services i system plan dnd ell logs. I , , ' After furthe~discussion of with regard yO t ~ir water s to the well Rrovided the Sta mobile home ~o a !individual that the Boa~d m steither e Perley's tim~ to seek a Stat or to direct !the Perley's as compliance w~th tqe State an ! , , , Commissioner IBro 'moved to to the Countyt'silding Cod give them th~ oppqrtunity to system. Commissioner Dennis ication that Isomet:h~ng must mean either the S~ate grants disconnecting the Imobile horn , , I " Danlene i&Beecher Larson Lake oa" ort u 0 o smlt ouy ne t e reque requirements tOlallo , the legal owned by Mr. 1& Mr~. Snipes I Colton. Thisl property is lo Valley Store Ion t 'eLarson L of action negessi~ated in th which it was Ilisted on the A valuation beiing IjJsted on th Commissioner ,Bro i moved to 1 acre homes~te Orl the Snipe Commission. :Com ilssioner De 1 ' Le~ter The letterrlom why the miti~ati Gardiner Beadh R the Public Wqrks ported. I i ! ' Ag'Ijeem tit re: Rent Brown move ~o approve t e r month of Dec~mbeas present seconded the Imotion. ApHrov Jl of Development I I Qece ber 9, 1985 I contJnued) : . . Minutes, Page 6: (Planning was drilled bec napproved surfa d the tavern wa I ested for the bytlhe Planning , n. , I , Forest Products: ro ucts, exp aining ache~ on to the e,wa~ referred to id G9ldsmith re- i Attorney's Sl.oner e, setting lic hear- s Office. VOL 11 00 3863 ; .. Minutes, Page 7: , , ' ional Services; Peter eerlofs, M.D.: approve t e pro ess , a s~rvlcescontract the performance of th dutiles of the Officer, effective ,3 uary ~, 1986. emotion. i I , Ueate of Absence: Cmissipner Brown a :se~ce requeste by ,. nda B~gley in approximately one ye' Commissioner , ~ i : : ,. ~ V rn.. , 11 [~(,t 00 3864 ..I;'u'I., , ..," '..'..~" .~. . ~4: r ,;" , .~ '. . (' .... . f. ;, 4;'/' ' : \-:1 .- ,", ',', ., .~. . .,. 1;0 'I,,; t::Jr:.;. .,~ '\ .&..... '<<S..:' ~ ..~ ' '... .\ .. ,~ . .1 1_, t~- " .. ,.