The Pullman City Council discussed a tax revenue sharing agreement between the city and Whitman County on June 15.
The agreement would affect a land zone surrounding Pullman, changing the revenue split between Pullman and Whitman County to an even 50 percent distribution between the two. For now, all sales tax revenue outside of the city goes to the county.
The revenue split would not apply to two developments outside of city limits that would not be part of the revenue-sharing area. There had been concerns that the Hawkins site and the Kitzmiller Road site would be negatively affected because of possible future annexation into city limits.
Besides revenue sharing, the proposal would allow business owners outside of the city to annex into city limits if they wished.
Furthermore, under the proposal, tax revenues on county land would stay the same even if those areas were eventually annexed.
The goal of the proposal is to simplify revenue sharing and increase profits for the city and the county. Several council members, including Nathan Weller, Keith Bloom and Barney Waldrop, were skeptical of the plan but found it interesting.
“It just feels a little bit too good,” Bloom said.
Council member Bill Paul said he would be more comfortable with the proposal if it was carried out in stages, and his primary concern was land use, not economic revenue. He said he would be comfortable with a 25-year contract versus the proposed 50 years.
The council agreed to have a more formal document regarding the proposal drafted for the next meeting June 29.
IN OTHER NEWS
The council discussed minor changes made to public transportation services for staff, students, faculty and retirees for the 2010-11 school year.
Transit Manager Rod Thornton said Pullman Transit was introducing the shopper shuttle and new 40-foot buses for the Express 2 routes. Pullman Transit is also eliminating the Senior Shuttle Service.
The council also adopted an ordinance that completes pre-zone classifications for part of about 515 acres of land on the east side of Brayton Road. The ordinance changed the classification of about 134 acres of land from an R2 Low Density-Multi Family Residential District to an R1 Single-Family Residential District.