Quil Ceda City
Last month, the Washington state House passed HB 1721. Its purported aim is to "simplify" the state and tribal tax jurisdictions, by allowing the Tulalip Tribes to call Quil Ceda Village a city, thus keeping the sales tax revenues as any city would, for the maintenance and improvement of the city.
But Quil Ceda Village is not a city. It has no citizens, no residents. The tax money would not go to provide services for the people who live there, as no people live there. It would go into the pockets of the Tulalip Tribes, depriving the state of over $12 million for the next 6 years, according to the state's own estimates.
The question is: why? It takes money from the taxpayers, and converts it directly into coprorate profit. It's clearly bad for the taxpayers, so its purpose must be to follow a principle that overrides the interest of the taxpayers.
Proponents, such as John McCoy, D-Tulalip, say that the Tribes pay out millions for Quil Ceda Village in infrastructure, security, roads, and other expenses that cities sometimes pay for. But the same is true for many non-tribal properties, too, like the malls at Everett, Alderwood, and Northgate.
Of course, McCoy is not the general manager of those malls. The interests-conflicted McCoy is, however, the general manager of Quil Ceda Village.
McCoy and the Tulalip Tribes say they want to be treated like everyone else. I agree: they should be like everyone else, funding expenses by collecting rent, not taxes.
But Quil Ceda Village is not a city. It has no citizens, no residents. The tax money would not go to provide services for the people who live there, as no people live there. It would go into the pockets of the Tulalip Tribes, depriving the state of over $12 million for the next 6 years, according to the state's own estimates.
The question is: why? It takes money from the taxpayers, and converts it directly into coprorate profit. It's clearly bad for the taxpayers, so its purpose must be to follow a principle that overrides the interest of the taxpayers.
Proponents, such as John McCoy, D-Tulalip, say that the Tribes pay out millions for Quil Ceda Village in infrastructure, security, roads, and other expenses that cities sometimes pay for. But the same is true for many non-tribal properties, too, like the malls at Everett, Alderwood, and Northgate.
Of course, McCoy is not the general manager of those malls. The interests-conflicted McCoy is, however, the general manager of Quil Ceda Village.
McCoy and the Tulalip Tribes say they want to be treated like everyone else. I agree: they should be like everyone else, funding expenses by collecting rent, not taxes.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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