OLYMPIA – Local governments should see a jump in tax revenue in mid May as the state funnels some $57 million from a recent tax amnesty to them, but the exact amount each city and county will see from the program won’t be known for weeks.
A state Department of Revenue spokesman said the increase in revenue from businesses that didn’t pay their sales and use taxes could be roughly equal to each area’s share of the state’s economy. The city of Spokane represents about 3.7 percent of the economy in the state’s most recent figures, and all of Spokane County about 6.8 percent, Mike Gowrylow said.
Using that yardstick, the city could see an extra $2.1 million and all governments around the county a total of $3.9 million. But that assumes businesses that avoided or underpaid taxes until the amnesty was offered are equally distributed throughout the state, and they probably aren’t, Gowrylow said.
“Some communities are going to see bigger bumps. It depends on where the business was located,” he said.

To read the initial report on money from the tax amnesty program, click here.
 

To read Sunday's column on the tax amnesty program, click here.

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