In November, you're going to be asked to vote on a .2 cent sales tax increase...
What's it gonna pay for? Kid jail.
The Metropolitan King County Council made a last-minute change to a proposed sales-tax increase Monday, earmarking a portion of the new revenue to replace the ailing Youth Services Center courthouse in Seattle.
Just one week after deciding to ask voters to raise the sales tax by 0.2 cents on a $1 purchase, the council revamped the measure headed for the Nov. 2 ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would raise the sales tax in most parts of the county to 9.7 cents.
Half of the tax increase would expire in three years unless extended by voters. The county's share would maintain court operations, the sheriff and prosecutor's offices and other criminal-justice functions.
The other half of the tax increase would be collected for 20 years and would pay for a $136 million replacement of the Youth Services Center courthouse, which judges say is unsafe, overcrowded and impossible to properly heat or cool.
