Franklin Latest County-Community to Ban Local Income Tax

A number of cities and counties have already done it, now Franklin County has passed a similar ban.

At their Commissioners Meeting Tuesday, Nov. 9th, the county passed a ban on income taxes in the county.

Richland, Kennewick, Yakima, Granger, and 7 other cities towns, and counties have also done so.

The reason for the ban stems from the recent passage of what many say is an unconstitutional capital gains tax in WA state. Even the IRS considers capital gains to be income, and therefore many states have bans on income taxes.

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However, despite this, the measure was pushed through by Democratic legislators earlier this year. The state Constitution bans income taxes, and multiple times residents have voted down the idea during elections.

However, it is believed the passing of the capital gains tax is an attempt to backdoor Washington workers by making it easier to pass an income tax in the future.

Here's what County Commissioners said about why they passed the ban as a preemptive measure:

"...the Board of Franklin County Commissioners prohibits the imposition of a local income tax in the event a local income tax is determined legal and permissible by the Washington State Legislature or the Washington State Supreme Court.”

Like many communities, officials want to be ready in case the state pushes one through. Having a ban in place would force the measure to end up in court and it would be tied up for a long time.

One of Governor Inslee's 'holy grail' or pet projects since he took office is to have a state income tax.