Lakewood City Council meeting agenda, Nov. 26
The Lakewood City Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, November 26 at 7 pm in the City of Lakewood’s City Council Chambers at 6000 Main St. The purpose of the special meeting is to consider approving the 2013 property tax levy collection, amending the brokered natural gas utility use tax, approving the 2013-2014 biennial budget, amending the fee schedule, legislative update and any other business that may come before the council. This meeting takes the place of the Study Session scheduled for the same date, time. Download the entire packet of material here.
Category: Government, Lakewood
According to the Tacoma News Tribune, some of the particulars of this packet posted this past Friday on the city’s website have already been changed prior to the council’s meeting on Monday. Specifically, the gas tax will not go up after all although bowling pin refinishing fees – even though I don’t believe Lakewood has a bowling alley – are slated to increase from $85 to $110.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/11/24/2378389/lakewood-council-wont-increase.html
Lakewood does have, however, casinos. And there is reason to seriously question the rationale the council is giving as to why its members – your elected representatives – will be asking you later to pay more for property taxes but not requiring the gambling industry to pay more in gambling income taxes.
Connect the following dots – there’s only three. If you have trouble doing so, wider felt-tip indelible markers are available.
• Dot #1: When Lakewood City Councilmember Mike Brandstetter proposed making up the shortfall anticipated in city revenue by increasing the city’s gambling tax from 11-to-12.5%, “his colleagues said they can’t count on increased revenue from minicasinos in Lakewood that pay the tax because they are in fierce competition with Indian casinos for business.” (TNT, November 24, 2012)
• Dot #2: “The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce supports it (dropping tax rate on mini-casinos to 11 percent from previous sliding-scale of 11 to 20 percent) – its directors said in a letter to the council that the sliding tax was unfair and singled out one industry. (Then Lakewood City Councilman Pad) Finnigan favors dropping the tax rate on mini-casinos even lower.
In 2005, when the tax rate moved between 14.5 percent and 11 percent, the Grand Central/Great American Casino (GAC) in Lakewood (512 and South Tacoma Way) paid $851,000 in city taxes according to Greg Bakamis, Regional Director and General Manager for the GAC. In 2006, at the 11 percent rate, the casino paid $676,000. On March 12, 2007, Bakamis told the City Council that a sliding scale tax makes his business more hesitant to donate to charities and other community causes because it doesn’t know for sure how much discretionary income it will have.” (TNT, March 14, 2007; B1 “Lakewood considers flat tax on gambling” by reporter Rob Tucker)
• Dot #3: The Lakewood Chamber Board’s Vice-Chair of the 2007-2008 Executive Committee was Greg Bakamis.