Legislative Testimony on Building Code Council and B&O Surcharge

This past Friday, AIA|WA Executive Director Stan Bowman testified on behalf of over 3,000 architects residing in Washington State:

HB 1618 - Funding the Building Code Council

Modest in scope, HB 1618 seeks to ensure that the Building Council is adequately funded with a minor permit fee increase (as little a dollar more for residential permits).

B&O Tax Surcharge

Temporarily introduced in 2010 to stay financial worries of Washington State, the B&O Tax Surcharge is set to expire this year. Promised as a temporary fix for a long term problem, the B&O surcharge tax impacts small architecture firms by pyramiding on contracted services as well as keeping architecture at the highest service-profession tax rates in the state. The rate would be reduced from 1.8% to 1.5%, if the tax expires this summer.

As always, these testimonies and other legislation being monitored by AIA|WA can be found at: http://www.aiawa.org/tracking