Businesses will not be allowed to “go cashless” under an ordinance barely approved during a contentious King County Council meeting.
The ordinance calls for requiring businesses in King County’s unincorporated areas to accept cash for transactions up to $250 with an exemption added for service businesses, like hair dressers, and a process for others to apply for exceptions, like those that are far from banks or only have one employee on duty.
The meeting got pretty heated with Council Member Joe McDermott clearly upset with the lack of enforcement provisions, whichMcDermott says weakens the measure, “and yet I’m troubled because I spoke to the value of allowing people who are unbanked to participate in our economy. I think this is a weak statement. I think it’s a very weak statement as it’s before us today, probably because we haven’t done all of the work we should have done.” McDermott was one of several members bothered that no enforcement mechanism was in place before the vote.
Council Member Sarah Perry expressed concerns that they hadn’t talked to enough business owners and others on both sides of the issue. Perry says the people that offered their opinions were overwhelmingly from within King County cities, where the rules wouldn’t apply. She says her district and Council Member Reagan Dunn’s district have the most residents of any unincorporated parts of the county, and Perry says not one single person from those areas came forward.
The sponsor, Council Member Jeanne Kohl-Welles, says there have been plenty of ordinances and budgets passed with the best information they had only to find out things change and measures need to be fixed. “This legislation,” Kohl-Welles said, “It’s dealing with a very important issue for a huge number of people that is going to increase as we move forward in becoming a cashless society.” Kohl-Welles also pointed out that she’s spoken with several business owners in Perry’s district, including some where they were together.
In the end, the council took the narrowest 5-to-4 vote to pass the ordinance.
