Seattle gun-sale tax raises less than $200,000 in first year

SEATTLE – A city leader says Seattle’s tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition brought in less than $200,000 in its first year.

The Seattle Times reported the city previously kept the information confidential to protect taxpayers’ privacy.

Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, who spearheaded the tax, told the newspaper there were approximately 15 potential firearm and ammunition taxpayers in the city for 2016.

The city is using the tax to support gun-violence research at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle but he city isn’t spending the money until a 2015 lawsuit challenging the tax is resolved.

The tax was adopted by the council in 2015 and took effect Jan. 1, 2016.

When Burgess proposed the tax, he said the city’s budget office had estimated it would raise $300,000 to $500,000 a year.