Recently, the Kittitas County Commissioners held a public hearing to discuss the possible implementation of a new admissions tax that would fund the county’s Public Health Department.

The county-wide proposal would add a five percent tax anywhere admission is charged, tickets are sold, or equipment is rented out for recreation or amusement.

Robin Read, Kittitas County public health administrator, said that the tax would provide  much-needed relief for the department, which is currently underfunded.

“Some of the programs that we struggle to fund are directly affected by events that happen in the community,” Read said. “If there were an outbreak at an event within the county, that falls under our Communicable Disease Program, which currently doesn’t have any funding.”

The proposal allocates the first $100,000 generated by the admissions tax to the Public Health Department every year. Anything in excess will go directly to the county’s general fund.

Since this is the first time admissions throughout the county would be taxed, the commissioners were hesitant to give an exact estimate on how much funding would be generated.

“I would be very surprised–happily surprised–if it’s more than $100,000,” Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell said.

The proposed county tax wouldn’t affect events held in Ellensburg or Roslyn because both cities have already implemented their own admissions tax. Events at primary and secondary schools won’t be subjected to the tax either.

The commissioners stated that most of the revenue from the tax would be generated at Suncadia, a high-end golf resort in Cle Elum.

“If implemented, this tax would be similar to the current lodging tax, where the bulk of the funding is paid by visitors rather than residents,” Kittitas County Commissioner Gary Berndt said in a statement.

The majority of public comments at last month’s hearing addressed the proposal’s exemption of recreational activities like skiing and snowboarding, but not golfing or bowling.

“If you’re going to have an admissions tax, you need to have it across the board,” community member Lee Davis said.

Frank Crimp, owner of the Ellensburg golf course, said that the exemption of so many forms of recreation leads to golfers being disproportionately affected.

“Setting aside snowmobiling and sledding, this is essentially only a tax on people who play golf,”Crimp said. “This tax is very unfair because people who don’t play golf will never pay a dime of this county admissions tax.”