Changes to Kittitas County Real Estate Excise Taxes

Seattle King County REALTORS® has been assisting REALTOR® members in Kittitas County in efforts to better understand the passage of a second 0.25% real estate excise tax (REET) without a vote of the people, and to evaluate the prospects for a levy lid lift to pay for neighborhood road maintenance projects.

The focus of the advocacy effort has been to:

1. Distill the primary focus of industry concerns that have been expressed regarding the second 0.25% REET, which appear to include:
   • Approval of the REET Increase Without a Public Vote
   • Expenditure of the REET funds
   • Whether or not the County Commissioners supplanted or diverted Capital Project Funds and replaced them with REET
2. Identify information and documents related to the imposition and expenditure of REET revenues that might be most helpful in answering questions and building trust with the Kittitas County Commissioners
3. Identify individuals and firms in the Kittitas County real estate brokerage industry who have expressed an interest in, and/or been vocal regarding, the enactment and expenditure of REET, and
4. Set the stage to work with the County Commissioners to address broad-ranging policy challenges that are in important to brokers in Kittitas County.