AN ORDINANCE relating to taxation; delaying the effective date of the heating oil tax on heating oil service providers under Chapter 5.47 of the Seattle Municipal Code; and delaying the date of the Office of Sustainability and Environment’s first annual heating oil tax program status report.
Agenda Item one. Council Bill 120123. Relating to taxation. Delaying the effective date of. Heating oil tax on heating oil. Service providers under Chapter. 5.470 Municipal Code. And delaying the date of. The Office of Sustainability Environment's. First annual Heating Oil Tax. Program Status. Report. Thank you so much. I moved past council bill 1 to 0 one two, three. Is there a second? I can. Thank you so much. It's been Ed to pass the bill. I'm going to hand it over to Councilmember Morales, who is the sponsor of this bill to address the item. Thank you. Council President So this bill would delay the effective date of the heating oil tax on heating oil service providers. Colleagues may remember that in response to community concerns about the impact of this tax, particularly on low and middle income households during COVID, we delayed implementation last August, delayed through 2020 September 1st, 2021. Another reason for the delay was related to Washington's pollution liability insurance agencies, new heating oil loan and grant program. We what had been discussed as a grant program last year now sounds like it might be going to a loan program. And so replacing these oil takes can cost tens of thousands of dollars. And for low income families, this is a real challenge, no matter how eager they may be to participate in a conversion. So June 1st of this year, the Office of Sustainability in the Environment provided an update to the heating oil loan program and based on feedback from from customers and others. And because the those final rules have not yet been put in place, OAC is proposing that we delay another six months before this tax becomes in effect. So that is the bill that's before you. I do want to thank members of Teamsters 174 and other labor partners who've contacted me about this bill. Many of their members would themselves be subject to this and are frankly nervous about the impacts of having to, you know, have pay the tax that would be passed on to them and also just bear the cost of making these kinds of conversions right now without assurance about the kind of support that they would be willing to get. So they're supportive of this delay while we assess other funding streams and while we wait for the final rule changes from clear. So that is what's before us today. And I'm recommending passage. If you have someone on our list for that description, are there any additional comments on the bill? Councilmember members, please. Thank you. I will be voting yes on this legislation to delay the implementation of the heating oil tax that Durkan first proposed a year and a half ago. The climate emergency is an existential threat to all of humanity, and we must have a serious and internationalist approach to ending greenhouse gas emissions. And in this case, unfortunately, the heating oil tax is not a serious approach. Yes, heating oil is a terrible fuel. But the reality is people in Seattle do not need a tax to motivate them to switch away from heating oil. Heating oil is expensive, dirty and inconvenient. And the main reason people still use oil burning heaters in Seattle is when they are simply unable to afford to switch to something better. Ideally electricity. My office discussed between 50 Seattle and they confirmed that from their outreach. They found that it is overwhelmingly poor and working class households that have oil heaters and people are switching to other types of heaters whenever they have the means to do so. Ultimately, that means that mail Durkin's proposed climate solution is yet another regressive tax, which is not a surprise. This is very dangerous. Not only does the tax have a very small potential impact on the climate positive impact to deal with the climate crisis. It also adds to the false narrative of blaming consumers and ordinary people for the climate emergency, which lets the big businesses responsible for 90% of greenhouse gas emissions off the hook. We need the opposite. We need we need measures that will actually change the way corporations are functioning. And ultimately, what we need is a militant climate justice movement nationwide and internationally that can take fossil fuel companies into democratic public ownership. We also need to fight for policies on the way to achieving all of those larger goals, which are frankly, urgently needed. That is why the Amazon tax movement fought to tax big businesses to fund the Green New Deal, for Seattle, to make funding available for people to retrofit their homes, for weatherization, and to get away from fossil fuels. And the big business taxes we won include a substantial 20 million climate infrastructure investment paid for by taxes on polluting big businesses, not on working people. Of course, $20 million is far less than is needed because the Amazon tax will significantly reduce when it was rebranded as Jumpstart in an attempt to minimize the essential impact of the grassroots movement. If climate organizers are motivated to fight to increase the Amazon tax next year, to expand the investments for dealing with the climate crisis, and we should absolutely be fighting for that. My office will obviously be standing with them. The city also needs to support the Stop the money pipeline movement, demand to boycott the financial institutions and insurance companies that fund fossil fuel infrastructure like tar sands pipeline. This is an excellent example of policies that we need to do in the here and now. My office as chair of the Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee is preparing legislation to empower the Green New Deal Oversight Board to review and rank financial institutions and insurance companies applying for City of Seattle grants. It is big business and the super rich that control the infrastructure of our society under capitalism. And we must build the movement to make them pay for the infrastructure to end this crisis. I'll be voting yes on this vote. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any additional comments on the bill? I don't see any other hands raised customer or moralist. Anything else to add before we call? The. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Well, the piece called a roll on the passage of the. Strauss. Yes. Herbals. Yes. Suarez. I. Lewis. Yes. Morales. Yes. Most gather by Petersen. I so want. Yes. Thank Council President Gonzalez. High nine in favor and unopposed. The bill passes and the chair will sign. It will please affixed my signature to the legislation on my behalf. Well, the clerk please read the short title of item two into the record.