About Judy Cox
Judy is MRSC’s expert on budgeting, revenue options and forecasting, financing capital projects, and everything else related to local government finance. If you’ve got a money question, Judy’s your go-to resource.
In a nutshell: With the passage of ESHB 1253, all the current allowed uses of lodging tax funds have been preserved except one—lodging tax funds may no longer be spent on capital expenditures for tourism-related facilities owned by nonprofit organizations.
Posted in Finance, General
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Last November, the Office of the State Treasurer published a memo titled “Looking for Yield in a Low Rate Environment: Risks to Avoid.” Five months later, we still have a “low rate environment,” and the advice given in that memo … Continue reading →
On May 11, I wrote a blog post discussing new legislation (SB 5381, ch. 115, Laws of 2012) that makes it easier to renew an emergency medical services (EMS) levy. Recently, MRSC received an informal attorney general’s opinion [1] that … Continue reading →
During the last couple weeks, our office has received some calls/emails about passing amendments to the 2012 budget during 2013. That got me thinking about an article that Toni Nelson wrote for our “Finance Advisor” column some years back. (For … Continue reading →
Last November, I used the following title for the blog post on levy lid lift election results: “Voters Generally Cool on Levy Lid Lifts.” Only 6 out of 17 (35 percent) ballot measures were successful. For the November 2012 election, the … Continue reading →
Last month, I went to the 57th annual Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA) conference at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. (Geography quiz: name the three rivers!) I have been to 20 of them. For the last couple years, … Continue reading →
I got a question from a city administrator the other day. His city was thinking of levying the second quarter percent of the real estate excise tax (REET 2), and he wanted to know if the revenues could be used … Continue reading →
Every year when I work on our publication, Budget Suggestions, reading matter piles up. When I turned to my stack last week, the first item I grabbed was The GO Report 2010: An Analysis of Local Government Outstanding General Obligation … Continue reading →
Are you getting ready to solicit applications for use of your hotel-motel tax (lodging tax) for 2013? Will you be listing any of the following items as permitted uses? operation (as opposed to “marketing”) of special events and/or festivals designed … Continue reading →
The Washington State Legislature passed a bill (SSB 5381, Ch. 115, Laws of 2012) that, effective June 7, will make passing a ballot measure to renew a six- or 10-year emergency medical services (EMS) levy easier.
