But legislation backed by the Sonics would make the taxes permanent — potentially freeing up money for at least $200 million in upgrades to KeyArena, as well as cash for arts groups and other unspecified "civic amenities" in King County.

Representatives of the hotel and restaurant industries told the House Finance Committee on Thursday they oppose the proposal, House Bill 3233, because they were promised during the Mariner and Seahawk stadium fights that the taxes would someday expire.

"This was a promise made, and this should be a promise kept," said Jim Berrios, who owns the Golden Steer Steak 'N Rib House in Kent.

Every meal at Berrios' restaurant — and all others in King County — includes a 0.5 percent tax to pay off Safeco Field. That may not seem like much, but every increase in price discourages customers, he said.

Berrios and others also told lawmakers the bill being pushed by the Sonics would permanently lock in the tax with only a vague notion about how much of the money will be spent. The legislation leaves it largely up to the King County Council to decide how to spend the money.

The taxes could pay for KeyArena upgrades, a new basketball arena, repairs to Safeco and Qwest fields and any other "civic amenity" to promote economic development.

The opposition from hotel owners is not quite so stiff. A 2 percent tax on hotel bills is to be collected even after the debt on the stadiums is paid.

The hoteliers' chief complaint is that King County is the only county that does not give hotels a say in how the money is spent, said Liz Bolian, general manager of Best Western River's Edge in Tukwila.

Asked about the tax complaints, Sonics Executive Vice President Terry McLaughlin said lawmakers have in the past decided that the hotel and restaurant taxes were appropriate for sports stadiums.

"There was an inherent logic to why it was done that way for Safeco and Qwest," McLaughlin said in an interview.

Rep. Jim McIntire, D-Seattle, the bill's chief sponsor, said that "generally speaking" he opposes taxpayer funding for professional-sports stadiums.

"Having said that, stadiums happen," said McIntire. It is the lawmakers' responsibility, he said, to think about how to maintain the publicly owned buildings.

Rep. Ed Orcutt, a Republican from Cowlitz County, worried that legislators are being asked to do exactly what taxpayers fear when they are told a tax increase will be temporary.

"They don't think it will go away. They think it will be extended and extended ... " Orcutt said. "Are we doing exactly what the taxpayers fear?"

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com

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