Agriculture is a driver of our quality of life. Apples, cherries, wheat and other valuable commodities travel from Eastern Washinton to the Port of Seattle in our district and elsewhere to be shipped out to the world.

The problem is that the agricultural interests–farmers from small family farms to multinational agri-businesses–pay none of our state’s primary taxes regardless of their income or economic might. They pay no sales taxes on their equipment, fertilizers or other inputs necessary to successful farming. They pay no B&O taxes. We all treasure family farms but we have lost site of the reality of our tax system and fundamental equality across our state. Even massive agribusinesses pay no such taxes simply because they are in agriculture as a business category. It’s wrong and patronizes even them by suggesting they are above contributing to our community’s interests.

It is unethical and unjust to the software developers, nurses, lawyers, coffee shop owners and so many others in our district and statewide. It is unethical and unfair to Queen Anne Book store, a tiny shop strugling to compete against the Internet. It is unfair to Hobbs’ auto repair shop fighting to stay alive. It is time for us to have the courageous honesty to acknowledge that we have carved out agriculture over decades from paying any taxes regardless of their financial sitution simply because they are a vital constituency politically and we want them to be successful.

We all treasure family farms and none of us pretends their lives are easy. They are the DNA of our nation’s history. We all deeply admire farmers and the hard life and business they lead. We honor their service to our nation as they feed 1/3 of the world through exports. But today’s agribusiness is more than the family farming stereotypes of old and we need to open the doors of a new model that is more equitable to us all.

There are 52 tax preferences that benefit agriculture in Washington. Some of them make complete and total sense but some do not. The value of those exemptions totaled about $360 million in the two year budget cycle.

We spend billions of dollars to support agriculture in our state. And we should. But our lack of fairness in asking for even a modest contribution to fund public education, universities and more from the agricultural community is unjust.

I support a conversation driven by the JLARC (legislative panel) that recommends establishing an income threshold to qualify for B&O exemptions.

Here’s the critical data: Removing the current B&O tax exemption for agriculture producers and EXEMPTING the first $1 million in annual gross receipts would generate $21 million in fiscal year 2011. Exempting the first $2 million in gross receipts revenues would generate $19.5 million in fiscal year 2011. This data makes it clear that the vast majority of taxes in agriculture would be paid by large scale agribusiness entities.

We do not want to penalize farming as an industry or farmers but neither do we want to continue an old fashioned model. They should not receive preferential treatment by paying no state taxes despite receiving billions in direct public benefits through education, health care, transportation, telecommunications and so much more.

Your partner in service,

Reuven.