Cash-strapped Clallam County’s commissioners are seriously studying adding a second quarter-percent excise tax on real estate sales to generate revenues for such projects as sewer lines proposed east of Port Angeles and between Carlsborg and Sequim.
“With the need for us to provide infrastructure for basic services (the real estate excise tax) is one of the best vehicles to provide those dollars,” said Commissioners Chairman Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness.
The Sequim Association of Realtors, however, weighs in against the tax, saying the levy is unreliable and depends on strong market conditions.
“We kind of know the commissioners have decided that they are going to do it, no matter what the hell we say,” said Mike McAleer, a Realtor and the association’s government affairs co-chair.
McAleer, former president of the Clallam County Economic Development Council, said if county leaders approve, he wants real estate excise tax revenues earmarked for projects likely to generate economic development.
These would include proposed sewer system projects that would eliminate the need for large-scale commercial septic systems east of Port Angeles and west of Sequim in Carlsborg.
Concerns expressed
McAleer and the association’s government affairs co-chair, Marguerite Glover, expressed their concerns about the additional excise tax during a commissioners’ work session this week.