Latest news with #WashingtonStatePublicDisclosureCommission
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pierce County mayor owes state $15K for breaking campaign finance laws, PDC says
The mayor of Buckley is in hot water with the state. The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission says Beau Burkett owes the state nearly $15,000 for breaking campaign finance laws. Burkett — who was elected in 2021 and whose term expires this year on Dec. 31 — has violations dating back to 2015, when he served on the Buckley City Council. 'To my knowledge, he hasn't paid any of his fines,' Natalie Johnson, spokesperson for the PDC, told The News Tribune. In a brief enforcement hearing on Thursday afternoon, the PDC added $1,000 to the mayor's mountain of debt. It ruled that Burkett failed to disclose the $13,850 in debt on a 2023 financial statement, which he filed on Feb. 27, 2024. That brings the total he owes to $14,850. Burkett was not at the hearing, which The News Tribune attended, nor did he have an attorney show up in his place. The News Tribune sought an interview with Burkett for this story, but he did not respond by deadline. Every candidate running for public office in Washington state is required to file an F-1 Personal Financial Affairs Statement, which documents the candidate's salary range, the value of real estate they own, membership on boards of committees and more. Candidates must complete this form within two weeks of announcing their intention to run for office. 'It discloses a variety of things personal to you, and it's intended to show conflicts of interest,' Johnson told The News Tribune. 'So, for example, if it's a school board member candidate, you'd want to know if they owned a portion of a construction company that the school board then contracted with to build a school.' According to PDC documents, Burkett did not turn in F-1 forms for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2021, while running in the mayoral race, he didn't turn in his 2020 F-1 or his C-1 candidate registration form, PDC documents show. In 2022, he didn't file his 2021 F-1, documents say. Below is a breakdown of when the PDC issued fines to Burkett over the years, according to PDC documents. The PDC says he has not paid any of these fees: Aug. 21, 2015: $100 Feb. 7, 2017: $250 Oct. 15, 2017: $1,000 Nov. 20, 2018: $500 March 11, 2021: $1,000 Nov. 16, 2021: $1,000 July 9, 2022: $10,000 In 2023, the PDC took the two most recent cases — totaling $11,000 — to Pierce County Superior Court. A judge ruled on Aug. 18, 2023 that Burkett had to pay the $11,000 with 12% interest. Johnson told The News Tribune that all of Burkett's fines have been taken to collections. When The News Tribune asked what happens after those fines get sent to collections, she said it's the same process as anyone else who doesn't pay debt they owe. 'The collections agency, at some point, can take them to court and can get a lien on the property, wages garnished – that sort of penalty,' Johnson said. 'That's something that the collections agency takes care of for us.' According to the PDC's website, Burkett has turned in F-1s for the years 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. However, he didn't turn in his 2019 or 2021 F-1s until years later in 2024. At Thursday afternoon's hearing, the PDC said Burkett filed a 2023 F-1 on Feb. 27, 2024, but the form did not disclose the $13,850 in debt to the PDC. Johnson told The News Tribune candidates and officials are required to disclose any debt above $2,400 on an F-1 form, unless it's credit card debt. J Leach, the presiding officer at Thursday's hearing, ruled that Burkett now owes the PDC an extra $1,000, bringing the total up to $14,850. If Burkett pays these fees or sets up a payment plan, the PDC will waive $900 of the $1,000 fine, bringing his total to $13,950. The PDC has until May 31 to send an official order to Burkett, and Burkett has 30 days to take action after the order is sent. Connor Edwards, the man who filed the complaint against Burkett, told The News Tribune Thursday that he thought the penalty should have been harsher than the $1,000 fine, with $900 suspended if Burkett starts paying. 'Mayor Burkett is one of the approximately 5-10% of people that don't correct their forms when contacted by PDC staff,' Edwards wrote in an email to The News Tribune. 'Despite this, and despite the many thousands of dollars that Mayor Burkett already owes the agency for years of ignoring the law, the PDC still offered to suspend virtually all of today's penalty if he corrects his F1 report.' Edwards is a recent law school graduate who has filed more than 2,000 complaints with the PDC against dozens of officials across the state. It started when he became a campaign treasurer for many politicians, a job that started as a way to make some extra money during law school. He wants to challenge the way the PDC handles these cases. 'The PDC is a paper tiger when it comes down to it,' Edwards said. '... all they do is dismiss the case with an administrative dismissal and say, 'Don't do it again.'' He filed another complaint against Burkett on May 1. This complaint alleges that Burkett filed an F-1 form covering 2024, but did not disclose the $13,850 in debt. He said Burkett's long history of ignoring campaign finance laws is important because these laws allow the public to be informed about their elected officials. '[It's a] right to see that information so that they can make an informed choice when it comes time to vote,' Edwards said. 'I've been to other countries around the world where corruption is a very big problem — and that's in large part because many of the elected officials over there, they don't have to file these types of disclosures.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's how Tacoma's streets initiative measure was faring in Tuesday's election
Voters in Tacoma appear to have rejected a proposal to increase certain taxes to raise money for repairs and improvements to the city's streets, according to the first round of results from Tuesday's special election. By 8:15 p.m. on election night, 54.05% of voters had voted against the tax hikes, with a roughly 19.17% voter turnout in Tacoma and roughly 200 ballots left to count. The measure, called Streets Initiative II or Proposition 1, proposed increasing property taxes by 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and increasing the utility-earnings tax by 2% for natural gas, electric and phone utilities – up from the 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and 1.5% utility-earnings tax hikes that voters last approved about 10 years ago. The tax package that voters likely rejected Tuesday would have been a permanent addition, whereas the two previous tax hikes that voters approved are set to expire in December 2025 and February 2026. Public Works director Ramiro Chavez told The News Tribune in December that the average Tacoma household would have likely paid $6 more per month in property taxes, and $2.13 more per month on utility taxes. Proponents of the measure argued that it would create jobs and reduce traffic deaths, but opponents have said that the tax hike would hit homeowners hard as property values have increased since the last tax package was passed. 'People are already hurting. It's already hard to buy groceries with all the other taxes that've been added in, all the other fees that we're having to pay,' said Steven Cook, who helped write the statement against Proposition 1 on the ballot. Cook said he wasn't surprised to see voters turn out to vote against the measure given the rising cost of living. 'People were paying attention to what was written about [the measure], and they're actually thinking about their pocketbooks,' he told The News Tribune on election night. Kristina Walker, a Tacoma city council member and a member of the Yes on Prop 1 committee, said she was disappointed but also wasn't surprised about the outcome. '[With] the state of the world right now, we know that people are seeing the news about tariffs, seeing prices go up, so it's not all that surprising that people would make a choice to not support new revenues,' Walker told The News Tribune on Tuesday night. 'There's just a lot of uncertainty out there.' Yes on Prop 1, also listed with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission as 'Yes to Safer Streets,' reported $23,859.27 in contributions, $37,882.25 in expenditures and $24,406.53 in debt, according to political disclosure data listed Tuesday. Contributions ranged from a maximum of $5,000 from the Seattle-based bike-advocacy nonprofit, Washington Bikes, to a minimum of $50 in individual cash donations. A majority of the campaign's expenses — around $21,000 — was spent on postage for mailers related to the campaign. In addition to evaluating next steps for the soon-to-expire tax package, Walker said the committee will now have to raise money to cover the committee's debt. Pierce County elections manager Kyle Haugh said voter turnout in the special election aligned with turnout in most April special elections. 'It's lower than we would obviously like, but not unsurprising for an April election after a presidential year,' he said. Pierce County officials will release election results again on April 23 and 29 at 4 p.m., and will certify the election on May 2, Haugh said.
