An answer is shaping up to the question of what is going to happen to all the extra revenue that the state has been raking in thanks to the real estate boom/bubble. If Representative Larry Springer has his way, a big chunk of the (presumably) continuing flow of cash from real estate taxes will be used to fund housing programs.
The hot housing market has been very, very good to state coffers, contributing largely through real estate taxes to a $1.45 billion surplus.
So, a few Democrats figure, it’s time to share some of the benefits with those less likely to be enjoying the boom: those needing affordable housing, including farm workers.
House Bill 2418 would spend $25 million each year for the next four years from collections of the real estate excise tax. In the first year, about $8 million would be set aside for an on-farm housing loan program and rental vouchers for migrant and seasonal workers. That sum could change through amendments.
The rest of the money would be set aside for programs ranging from housing for those with developmental disabilities and victims of domestic violence.
It is only a matter of time before all the excess funding being brought in by real estate is spent away by the politicians. And of course when/if real estate slows back down you know they will be complaining about a budget deficit.
(Leah Beth Ward, Yakima Herald-Republic, 01.27.2006)