(1) The streamlined sales and use tax mitigation account is created in the state treasury. The state treasurer shall transfer into the account from the general fund amounts as directed in RCW 82.14.500. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purpose of mitigating the negative fiscal impacts to local taxing jurisdictions as a result of RCW 82.14.490 and the chapter 6, Laws of 2007 amendments to RCW 82.14.020.

     (2) Beginning July 1, 2008, the state treasurer, as directed by the department, shall distribute the funds in the streamlined sales and use tax mitigation account to local taxing jurisdictions in accordance with RCW 82.14.500.

     (3) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section and RCW 82.14.390 and 82.14.500.

     (a) "Agreement" means the same as in RCW 82.32.020.

     (b) "Local taxing jurisdiction" means counties, cities, transportation authorities under RCW 82.14.045, public facilities districts under chapters 36.100 and 35.57 RCW, public transportation benefit areas under RCW 82.14.440, and regional transit authorities under chapter 81.112 RCW, that impose a sales and use tax.

     (c) "Loss" or "losses" means the local sales and use tax revenue reduction to a local taxing jurisdiction resulting from the sourcing provisions in *RCW 82.14.020 and the chapter 6, Laws of 2007 amendments to RCW 82.14.020.

     (d) "Net loss" or "net losses" means a loss offset by any voluntary compliance revenue.

     (e) "Voluntary compliance revenue" means the local sales tax revenue gain to each local taxing jurisdiction reported to the department from persons registering through the central registration system authorized under the agreement.

     (f) "Working day" has the same meaning as in RCW 82.45.180.

[2007 c 6 § 902.]

NOTES:

     *Reviser's note: The reference to RCW 82.14.020 appears to be erroneous. Reference to section 503 of this act, codified as RCW 82.14.490, was apparently intended.

     Findings -- Intent -- 2007 c 6: "(1) The legislature finds and declares that:

     (a) Washington state's participation as a member state in the streamlined sales and use tax agreement benefits the state, all its local taxing jurisdictions, and its retailing industry, by increasing state and local revenues, improving the state's business climate, and standardizing and simplifying the state's tax structure;

     (b) Participation in the streamlined sales and use tax agreement is a matter of statewide concern and is in the best interests of the state, the general public, and all local jurisdictions that impose a sales and use tax under applicable law;

     (c) Participation in the streamlined sales and use tax agreement requires the adoption of the agreement's sourcing provisions, which change the location in which a retail sale of delivered tangible personal property occurs for local sales tax purposes from the point of origin to the point of destination;

     (d) Changes in the local sales tax sourcing law provisions to conform with the streamlined sales and use tax agreement will cause sales tax revenues to shift among local taxing jurisdictions. The legislature finds that there will be an unintended adverse impact on local taxing jurisdictions that receive less revenues because local tax revenues will be redistributed, with revenue increases for some jurisdictions and reductions for others, due solely to changes in local sales tax sourcing rules to be implemented under RCW 82.14.490 and the chapter 6, Laws of 2007 amendments to RCW 82.14.020, even though no local taxing jurisdiction has changed its tax rate or tax base;

     (e) The purpose of providing mitigation to such jurisdictions is to mitigate the unintended revenue redistribution effect of the sourcing law changes among local governments;

     (f) It is in the best interest of the state and all its subdivisions to mitigate the adverse effects of amending the local sales tax sourcing provisions to be in conformance with the streamlined sales and use tax agreement;

     (g) Additionally, changes in sourcing laws may have negative implications for industry sectors such as warehousing and manufacturing, as well as jurisdictions that house a concentration of these industries and have made zoning decisions, infrastructure investments, bonding decisions, and land use policy decisions based on point of origin sales tax rules in place before July 1, 2008, and the mitigation provided by RCW 82.14.495, 82.14.500, 82.14.390, and 44.28.815 is intended to help offset those negative implications; and

     (h) It is important that the state of Washington maintain its supply of industrial land for present and future economic development activities, and local governments taking advantage of the mitigation provided by RCW 82.14.495, 82.14.500, 82.14.390, and 44.28.815 should strive to maintain the supply of industrial land available for economic development efforts.

     (2) The legislature intends that the streamlined sales and use tax mitigation account established in RCW 82.14.495 have the sole objective of mitigating, for negatively affected local taxing jurisdictions, the net local sales tax revenue reductions incurred as a result of RCW 82.14.490 and the chapter 6, Laws of 2007 amendments to RCW 82.14.020." [2007 c 6 § 901.]

     Part headings not law -- Savings -- Effective date -- Severability -- 2007 c 6: See notes following RCW 82.32.020.