Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Northwest Territorial Mint To Leave WA State

Washington's Department of Revenue is charged with bringing in more money. (That is how they see it anyway.) So, they are revisiting businesses to see where they can get more money.

They are, for instance, going to gun clubs and assessing more taxes saying those who come to view the sport (even though they do not pay for use of the facilities) factor into the tax equation. DOR extracts more taxes when people are allowed to view the sports for free.

During session the mints in WA went to a certain Senator to sponsor legislation to protect against a new DOR tax classification. Without regard for the issue, the Senator withdrew support of the bill because an aide found something negative but unproven about the owner of one of the mints. The bill failed to pass.

Northwest Territorial Mint is the largest in the state and the west. They do a $300 million a year business. During session they said they would move if the bill did not pass. They are now moving to Nevada. One of my sons has been working for minimum wage (hoddying molten silver) and will be one of those out of a job thanks to "personal" issues rather than working on legislation for the best interests of the state. I can honestly say I have never done that...voted on how I felt about an individual rather than how I judged the bill.

1 comment:

strawberryblonde said...

History is repeating.
On April 16, 1971, real-estate agents Bob McDonald and Jim Youngren sponsored a billboard "Will the last person leaving SEATTLE -- Turn out the lights" as a humorous response to pessimism generated by the national aerospace industry's nosedive, known locally as the Boeing Bust.
It wasn't funny then, in my opinion and it isn't funny now.
We will miss the MINT, get your gold before you have to pay shipping charges.