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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 4 <br />230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Environmental Consequences <br />PAGE 4-234 <br />greater distances, such as in the Moses Lake and Quincy (Grant County) areas and possibly in the <br />Richland area in Benton County, or share hotel rooms. If construction activities occur at two or more <br />locations such as proceeding simultaneously from each terminus, demand increases would be spread to a <br />larger area of nearby supply and impacts on hotel and RV supply and demand would be substantially less. <br />Because hotel and RV supplies experience frequent full occupancy, especially in the popular tourist <br />months of summer, some upward pressure on nightly rates can be expected due to construction of any of <br />the Action Alternatives; thus, this increase is mitigated by the market mechanism of pricing. However, the <br />increased demand would be quite small proportionately compared to baseline demands, as would any <br />resultant price increases. <br />4.9.6.4 Revenue and Fiscal Effects <br />Sales and Use Taxes <br />Sales and use taxes would be paid to the state of Washington and to the counties in which the facilities are <br />constructed. These taxes would apply to the value of purchases of material goods for Project construction <br />and by workers at jobs created due to the Project. Although beneficial to the receiving jurisdictions, the <br />projected sales and use tax revenues would be very small relative to total jurisdiction revenues. <br />Between $160,041 and $248,707 in sales and use taxes are estimated to be paid due to the Project, shown <br />in Table 4.9-6. These estimates are based on the local and state sales and use tax rates, the value of local <br />purchases of Project construction in Table 4.9-2 and itinerant worker spending effects shown in Table <br />4.9-3 and are adjusted to reflect likely locations of purchases. The estimates are conservative, however, <br />since they assume spending is taxable at county rates and do not include spending arising due to the <br />multiplier effects on personal income (and spending) or spending by local residents who work on the <br />construction site. As a result of construction, Alternatives A-H would result in 32 percent more total sales <br />and use tax revenues than the NNR Alternative - MR Subroute and 55 percent more than the NNR <br />Alternative (Table 4.9-6). <br />Property Taxes <br />Transmission facilities spanning more than one county in Washington are assessed by the Washington <br />Department of Revenue (WDOR) Utility Section. Property taxes accrue to the counties in which the <br />assessed values are assigned. For preliminary property tax estimating, the capital costs of the facilities <br />shown in Table 4.9-1 are used as proxies for the value of the ultimate assessment by WDOR, along with <br />mileage of ROW in each county. Property tax rates discussed in Section 3.9.2.5 were used, with only the <br />overall county property tax rates used. Additional property taxes would be paid to special districts in <br />which Project facilities are located. The resulting estimates of property taxes use current rates and are for <br />the first year of tax payments only. After the first year, assessments would change as factors such as <br />revenue assignable by the state to the facilities and depreciation become important in the actual <br />assessments. The estimates in Table 4.9-7 indicate a total of $209,352 to $236,718 in property taxes <br />would be paid to the counties and the state in the first taxable year. Alternative G would result in the most <br />property tax payments and the NNR Alternative the least (Table 4.9-7).