WA HB2502

Removes local sales and use tax exemptions (averaging 2.9%) for various products and services while maintaining state-level exemptions (6.5%), directing additional revenue to local governments including cities and counties

Affects exemptions for: waste vegetable oil for biodiesel production, motion picture/video production equipment and services, printer/publisher computer equipment, direct mail delivery charges, gun safes, biogas/anaerobic digester equipment, renewable energy generation equipment, computer data center server equipment, and aerospace computer hardware/software

Cites decades of documented local government fiscal distress from reports spanning 1988-2014, noting inadequate revenues, inelastic tax bases, and constrained funding for essential services like law enforcement, roads, public health, and behavioral health

Follows the model of existing RCW 82.08.985, which exempts only state sales tax while still collecting local portions, as an approach to balancing tax preference benefits with local government funding needs

Requires evaluation of the policy's effectiveness on local government fiscal health within three years of enactment, including consideration of impacts on original legislative intent for each affected tax preference