The County's New Death Tax
Bob
There is one thing surer than death and taxes and that's a tax on death. The King County Council recently passed one (it was "buried" in budget documents), adding a $50 charge to the cost of cremations in the county. The Medical Examiner asked for the tax-disguised-as-a-fee, as critics call it, to cover costs of authorizing all cremations in advance.
John Eric Rolfstead, director of the cremation service People�s Memorial Association, calls it an "unfair, discriminatory tax which applies specifically to those who are poor or whose religion requires cremation such as Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus."
He notes that while a family spending $25,000 on burial would not be subject to the tax, someone spending $650 on cremation would have to pay the extra $50. (The bill would go to the cremation service which is likely to pass the cost along to the customer). A repeal campaign is underway.
The fee, which would annually raise an extra $400,000 literally from the ashes, would be imposed starting next year. However, the county has graciously offered all taxpayers the opportunity to die now and save.
7 comment(s)
John Eric says:
Thanks Rick for your very dry humor!
Posted On: Friday, Dec. 7 2007 @ 12:23PM
The Luke says:
Nice one, King County Council. Thanks to Dori Monson for first making me aware of this and the People\'s Memorial Association for sending me more information today. A cremation tax? REAL NICE.
Posted On: Friday, Dec. 7 2007 @ 4:55PM
taxmancometh says:
They get you coming and going, but - after you\'re gone? That\'s a new one.
Posted On: Saturday, Dec. 8 2007 @ 11:38AM
Ruth Bennett says:
This discriminatory tax will so adversly effect poor people who have few options. And don\'t think it will be just $50 as the added time and hassle will cause funeral homes to increase their prices as their administrative costs increase. No one is making much money on a $650 cremation and the funeral home will pass on the cost just as they pass on the costs of death certificates.
Contact the County Council NOW to request repeal of this new tax.
Posted On: Saturday, Dec. 8 2007 @ 11:08PM
Frank Abe says:
Dear Rick,
It\'s unfortunate the Weekly pursued only one side of this story.
The cremation permit and fee, adopted by the Council as part of the overall 2008 King County Budget, closes a legal loophole that has potentially allowed evidence of homicides to be destroyed before the death could be investigated.
Under state law, coroners and medical examiners are responsible for determining the manner and cause of death whenever the death is sudden, unexpected, violent, suspicious, or unnatural. Cremation of a body before the cause and manner of death are legally determined destroys any evidence of an injury, whether accidental or intentional. Yet this has happened about 20 times each year in King County for the past several years.
The King County Sheriff, King County Prosecutor, and King County Executive all recommended the Council adopt the permit and fee to ensure that funeral homes report all deaths to the Medical Examiner before cremation.
Over the past two years, the Medical Examiner
Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 13 2007 @ 10:52AM
Frank Abe says:
...Over the past two years, the Medical Examiner
Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 13 2007 @ 10:55AM
4n6 says:
You folks at the weekly have reported on a host of problems at our Medical Examiner\'s office in the past. Keep it up! The coverups and mismanagement have become legendary for the ME and his cronies. Now our County Council wants us to trust that bunch? Since the \"selling stolen organs off cadavers\" racket dried up it\'s obvious they need something else. Organized crime has more ethics than that bunch!
Posted On: Friday, Dec. 21 2007 @ 1:03PM