This bill creates a new local tax authority by adding a new section to chapter 82.14 RCW that allows a qualifying city to impose a local sales and use tax of up to 0.3 percent. The tax is described as being in addition to other taxes and as collected from persons taxable under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW; it is credited against the state tax under those chapters. The department (not named in the provided text) must collect the tax on the city’s behalf at no cost to the city and remit it as provided in RCW 82.14.060. Eligibility and limits are specified: a city must have population over 120,000, be located in a county with population over 1,500,000, and have more than 25 percent of its total assessed valuation zoned for industrial or warehousing uses. No tax may be imposed under the new section before July 1, 2025; any tax must begin at the start of a fiscal year and may continue for no more than 20 years from the date first imposed. Revenues may be used to improve community vitality in the same manner as general fund revenue. The act includes an emergency clause making it effective immediately, though the tax cannot be imposed before July 1, 2025. The bill also imposes public outreach and transparency requirements on any qualifying city that uses the authority: each biennial budget adoption must be accompanied by at least three town hall meetings held in different locations and times, a webpage outlining budget development and hearing dates, and a public survey soliciting budget priorities. The text references existing dedicated funding in RCW 82.14.545 and RCW 82.14.550 scheduled to expire July 1, 2026, and mentions the manufacturing and warehousing job centers account. The provided material does not specify the new section number in chapter 82.14, does not name the department responsible for collection, and does not state the legislative or local procedural steps (for example, council action or voter approval) required to adopt the tax.

If enacted, certain large port-area cities (those with more than 120,000 people in counties over 1.5 million and with more than 25% of assessed value zoned industrial or warehousing) would be able to add up to 0.3 percentage points to the local sales and use tax, beginning at the start of a fiscal year but not before July 1, 2025, and lasting no more than 20 years. That tax would be collected by the state department named in the law at no cost to the city, credited against the state sales tax, and the revenue could be spent like general fund money to support community vitality. The act takes effect immediately, although the tax cannot be imposed until the date above. Practically, qualifying cities would gain a new, time-limited revenue option while taking on recurring public outreach duties: each biennial budget must be accompanied by at least three geographically and temporally varied town halls, a public webpage about the budget, and a survey of budget priorities. Residents and businesses in those cities would likely pay up to 0.3% more on taxable transactions. It is unclear from the provided text which state department will administer collection, what formal steps a city must follow to adopt the tax (for example, voter approval or council action), and how this interacts with the dedicated funding provisions noted as expiring July 1, 2026.