Letter: State legislators let us down
Once again our locally elected state senators and representatives have let us down. This time on several fronts. Spending critical time pushing pet projects, three overtime sessions on our nickel, and increasing taxes — trying to comfort us by stating this is only temporary (how many times have we ever seen a tax go away?).
They also left $60-plus million dollars of revenue on the table. I am referring to the sales tax exemption that is allowed for residents of selected states (primarily Oregon). If you don’t think this has an impact on the Tri-Cities, just check out the license plates in the parking lots of Columbia Center and Walmart amongst others. Essentially we are providing, free of cost, our infrastructure and services to people who frequent our area on a regular basis. They are not tourists who stay in our hotels.
As I have stated before, if you live in Washington and work in Oregon you will pay Oregon state income taxes. Oregon does not provide an exemption to Washington residents. So why do we? It is past time to fix this issue and get the money we deserve.
Michael Cochrane, Kennewick
This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Letter: State legislators let us down."