Bill > HB1702

This bill authorizes counties in Washington state to impose a new excise tax on utilities operating within their unincorporated areas, with several key provisions: Counties can levy a tax up to 3% on the gross income utilities receive from providing services to consumers, which must be explicitly added to customer bills and separately stated. The tax can only be initially imposed on the first day of a calendar quarter, with at least 75 days' notice. Counties have some flexibility in creating exemptions, particularly for business customers like manufacturing facilities and data centers, but cannot provide a general residential exemption unless business customers are also exempt. Importantly, if a city or town already imposes a similar utility tax, the county must provide a credit to prevent double taxation. Additionally, counties are required to use 0.2% of the tax revenue specifically to help low-income residents with utility costs. The bill also provides detailed definitions for different types of utilities, including electrical, gas, telephone, water, sewer, solid waste, and cable service utilities. These taxes collected under this new authorization would not be subject to the existing public utility tax under state law, creating a distinct new revenue stream for counties.

Budget and Finance

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1702&Year=2025&Initiative=false