4 Reporting
4.8 SAO Annual Report Schedules
4.8.8 Sales and Use Tax for Public Facilities – Rural Counties (Schedule 20)
4.8.8.10 RCW 82.14.370 authorizes rural counties to impose sales and use tax of no more than 0.09 percent. This tax is credited against the 6.5 percent state sales tax and use tax and is paid by the Department of Revenue to eligible rural counties [1]. RCW 82.14.370(3)(b), requires the State Auditor’s Office to collect annual information on the use of these tax proceeds. The purpose of this schedule is to summarize use of these funds and demonstrate compliance.
4.8.8.20 The proceeds of this tax are restricted to financing public facilities [2] serving economic development purposes [3] in rural counties and finance personnel in economic development offices. The public facilities must be listed as an item in the officially adopted county overall economic development plan, or the economic development section of the county’s comprehensive plan, or the comprehensive plan of a city or town located within the county for those counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040. For those counties that do not have an adopted overall economic development plan and do not plan under the Growth Management Act, the public facilities must be listed in the county’s public facilities plan or the capital facilities plan of a city or town located within the county. No new projects funded with this money may be for justice system facilities.
4.8.8.30 The counties collecting this tax must file an annual schedule with the State Auditor’s Office 150 days after close of their fiscal year, listing the projects funded by this tax revenue in the previous fiscal year.
4.8.8.40 The schedule should be prepared on the same basis of accounting, for the same period and reporting entity, and using the same underlying accounting records as the Schedule 01 and financial statements.
4.8.8.50 The template for Online Filing is available on SAO’s website page at BARS Reporting Templates. The following is an example of the schedule.
Instructions to preparer:
Column (1): List the public facility project.
Column (2): Indicate where the project is listed (e.g., officially adopted county economic development plan, economic development section of the county’s comprehensive plan, etc.).
Column (3): List an amount of total expenditures related to each project. Also, include expenditures related to projects initiated in previous periods and still generating expenditures.
Column (4): List an amount of expenditures paid for by the sales and use tax revenues.
Columns (5) and (6) The county must provide an actual or estimated number of businesses and family wage jobs the project created, attracted, expanded or retained. The county may use its economic development plan, economic development section of county’s comprehensive plan or other sources to provide this information.
Documentation supporting this schedule must be made available upon request for audit purposes and public requests.
Footnotes
[1] Rural County means a county with a population density of less than one hundred persons per square mile or a county smaller than two hundred twenty-five square miles as determined by the Office of Financial Management.
[2] Public Facilities means bridges, roads, domestic and industrial water facilities, sanitary sewer facilities, earth stabilization, storm sewer facilities, railroads, electricity, natural gas, buildings, structures, telecommunication infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, or commercial infrastructure and port facilities.
[3] The legislative goal for RCW 82.14.370 is to promote the creation, attraction, expansion, and retention of businesses and provide for family wage jobs. Economic development means those purposes which facilitate the creation or retention of businesses and jobs in a county.