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14 Wednesday, July 17, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Worries over move making Oregonians pay Washington sales tax By Kate Davidson Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM (AP) 4 Oregonians, say goodbye to your Washington sales tax break 4 at least as you9ve come to know it. Gone are the days of showing an Oregon ID at a Washington register and getting an automatic pass on sales tax. Starting July 1, Oregonians who shop in Washington must save their receipts if they want to get reimbursed later. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure into law in May. Washington leaders proj- ect the change will raise about $54 million for their general fund over the next two years. But some busi- ness owners in Southwest Washington fear the revenue comes at their expense. Their concern 4 and con- fusion 4 can be summed up in tractors and teak. Skip Ogden owns Dan9s Tractors outside Battle Ground, Washington. He9s been at it for decades. He says he9s learned something about his Oregon customers: They hate paying sales tax. <They walk in the door. They want some filters. You ring it up, you tell 8em how much, and they say, 8Oh, I9m from Oregon, no tax,9= he said in late June. <Yeah, they9ll make you re-ring $2, cause they don9t want to pay the extra 15 cents.= In the days leading up to July 1, Ogden worried. He checked his records. Twenty percent of his business last year came from Oregon cus- tomers 4 more than $1 mil- lion in gross revenue. If his customers don9t want to pay sales tax on an inexpensive filter, why would they cross the river to pay 7.7% sales tax on a $30,000 tractor with a front loader? They like his service, but Oregonians don9t have to pay sales tax at home. <I just think our legisla- tors are out of touch with reality,= he said. <I think that they want money so bad that they9ll do anything to get it. But the ramifications on our local businesses in Clark County are extreme.= O v e r i n Va n c o u v e r, Washington, the sales tax change was keeping Don Thompson up at night. <You know, wake up at 3 o9clock in the morning and wonder how it9s all gonna fit together,= he said. Thompson owns the America the B eautiful Dreamer furniture store in Vancouver, Washington. He checked his records, too. This spring, about 40% of his business came from Oregon customers. <Well, it9s a bit scary,= he said the week before the change. <If we have 40% of our business from Oregon, how much are we going to lose? 20%? 30%? I really have no idea. It9s kind of unnerving.= Thompson has four chil- dren who work for him. He just refinanced his building. He wants to raise revenue not shrink it. <I sent an email to the governor. I said 8You9re the head salesman for the state of Washington. Give me one reason why a furniture store should operate in Clark County versus just mov- ing to Portland,9= he said. <Vancouver/Clark County already loses half of their high-ticket sales to Portland because of the sales tax.= The Kiwanis Food Bank needs your support... For years, Washington lawmakers have been eye- ing the automatic sales tax exemption for shoppers from places like Oregon with no sales tax. This year, the move to eliminate it passed, with exceptions. Oregonians, Alaskans, some Canadians and others still won9t pay sales tax on cars, boats or farm equip- ment. Skip Ogden9s tractors are largely used by home- owners and builders, not farmers, so he won9t get much relief there. But days before the auto- matic sales tax exemption ended, Ogden realized he could take advantage of another exception: Items delivered to Oregon appar- ently don9t count. Ogden9s relief was palpable. His trac- tors are often delivered. The whole idea of the sales tax exemption was to keep Washington businesses competitive with their coun- terparts in sales-tax-free Oregon. Even the prime sponsor of the legislation ending the automatic exemp- tion says border businesses have legitimate concerns. But state Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Kitsap County, says that, in general, it9s a fairness issue. <That is how Washingtonians feel about it 4 that everybody should be charged the same amount of money when they purchase something,= she said. Lawmakers9 first moti- vation was revenue. With no income tax, Washington relies more heavily on sales tax to bring in money. Democratic lawmakers pointed to a range of pressing funding needs, particularly education, but also mental health care, rape kit testing and orca recovery. The second motivation, lawmakers said, was resi- dents9 annoyance. <It9s very unpopular with Washington residents that may be standing in a line,= and hearing Oregonians skip sales tax, said Democratic state Rep. Sharon Wylie of Vancouver. <And the people in line listening to this don9t care for it very much.= This year, Wylie voted to get rid of the automatic exemption, despite having supported it in the past. She says she9s heard the concerns of the business community. Lawmakers9 third motiva- tion was the potential abuse of the system. Some legislators fixed on the idea that people were misusing the sales tax exemption. They pointed to Washington residents under- mining the tax base by using old Oregon IDs to skip sales tax. So they tried to make that harder. <We didn9t get rid of the exemption, but we changed the way it9s carried out,= Rolfes said. Now instead of showing ID, shoppers from places without sales tax will have to save all their receipts and submit them once a year to get the 6.5% state sales back. Local sales tax can9t be recouped. How many people will go to that trouble? The state9s fiscal analysis estimates only 21% of Oregon shoppers will bother to ask for their money back. That means the $54 million in projected revenue relies largely on the inaction of Oregon shoppers. Saving receipts is too much hassle for Michele King, of St. Helens, Oregon. She9s done it before, in her work life, and she doesn9t want to do it for her family. <That9s a lot of work to expect a mom to do, frankly,= she said. <It9s too much.= Until now, King has made a weekly shopping trip across the river to Longview, Washington. She hits the Walmart Supercenter for gro- ceries and the Home Depot for supplies. She9s renovat- ing a house and has a long summer shopping list: roof shingles, insulation, doors, cabinets, etc. But now she says her money will stay in Oregon. She9d rather brave traffic than receipts. WHAT’S A RELAXATION ROOM? Leave your stress at the door… Settle into one of our stress therapy chairs for a calming g celestial exp experience. Relax, enjoy! DINING & TAKE-OUT until midnight every night Menu at SistersSaloon.net 541-549-RIBS 190 E. Cascade Ave. Friday-Sunday, Noon to Close Relaxation Room Sisters 541-771-0320 . Redmond 541-388-3091 Hope for a child. Change for a nation. ...Now & All Year-Round! Checks payable to Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank can be mailed to P.O. Box 1296, Sisters, Oregon 97759 One Make a Diff erence! FOOD FO OD D DROP-OFF D RO ROP P OF OFF F LO LOCA LOCATION: O CA CATI T ION Washington Federal (By Ray’s Food Place) during business hours There are a million perfectly understandable reasons not to help. Thankfully, love trumps them all. $39 a month. All the difference in the world. Sponsor a child with a local organization at HopeAfricaKids.com This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper.