Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Moscow Gives Pullman a Mulligan

Just when it seems the senseless, liberal bureaucracy in Olympia is determined to chase all development from Washington into Idaho, the Moscow City Council comes through once again with a self-imposed handicap.

In today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News, it was reported that the Moscow City Council is now considering charging developers "impact fees." These "impact fees" are the preferred tactic of choice for cities that favor "smart growth," such as the current Moscow administration. The idea is to make "growth pay for itself," as if the property, sales, and other taxes imposed don't do that already. As with any "fee," it simply gets passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices for goods or homes. The idea, of course, is not to make "growth pay for itself," but to scare growth off completely.

First, the "big-box ordinance", then the "living wage ordinance," and now "impact fees." Keep up the good work, Queen Nancy! And will the last business in Moscow please turn off the lights?

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