City Council Asked To Approve Tax Hike Acting City Manager Seeks 6 Percent Increase In Property Taxes

Spokane residents may see a jump in their property tax bills if the City Council approves a proposed 1997 spending plan.

The draft budget unveiled Monday by Acting City Manager Bill Pupo calls for hiking property taxes about 4 percent - adding approximately $870,000 to city coffers.

Pupo also is asking the council to consider increasing property taxes another 2 percent to pay for street repairs.

The additional hike would raise about $435,000 for the transportation budget, allowing the city “to do a little more in street repair than we are doing,” Pupo said.

Councilman Chris Anderson, who attended his first council meeting in five months, criticized the proposed tax increase, noting the city calculates inflation at 3 percent.

“We’re looking at increasing property taxes above and beyond what we use as an inflation increase,” Anderson said. “Once again, we’re proposing property tax increases above and beyond what people are able to pay.”

Mayor Jack Geraghty defended the proposed increase, adding the budget will undergo several changes before it is adopted.

“We need to find ways to come up with street improvement funding,” said Geraghty. “The council hasn’t had a chance to discuss this.”

The proposed budget calls for $4 million more in general government spending in 1997 than this year - from $108 million to $112 million.

At least $2 million of the increase can be traced to a new state law that shifts the cost of prosecuting misdemeanor crimes from the county to the city, Pupo said.

That shift will add 21 employees to the city payroll.

Next year’s budget also calls for:

Increasing the transportation budget by $1 million. About $200,000 of that will go toward a new “street sealing crew” that will fix cracks in the roads. The rest will pay for new equipment and increased insurance costs.

Raising sewer rates by 2 percent.

Small increases in building permit fees.

Still uncertain in the 1997 budget is whether city employees will get salary increases. Seven of eight unions are negotiating contracts.

The spending plan doesn’t include salary hikes for those city’s managers not in unions, Pupo said.

There will be at least three public hearings on the proposed spending plan during November and December.

Also Monday, the council voted 6-1 to enter into a lease with the Spokane Shadow to use Albi Stadium for soccer games.

Councilman Jeff Colliton, liaison to the city’s Sports, Entertainment, Arts and Convention Advisory Board, which brokered the lease, cast the dissenting vote.

Under the agreement, the Shadow - owned by Brett Enterprises - will pay the city 8 percent of net ticket sales anytime the organization sponsors a soccer, football or concert event at Albi.

The Shadow also will get 20 percent of net concession sales and 30 percent of parking receipts.

In return, Brett Enterprises will pay the city $100,000 toward the $1.6 million in improvements already done at the stadium. Those improvements included widening the field so that soccer could be played there.

SEACAB President Gregg Tripp said board members had concerns about the proposed lease, including that Brett Enterprises didn’t pay the cost of lighting the stadium at night.

They also didn’t like the exclusivity of the contract, which gives the organization first shot at promoting any events at Albi.

But Bobby Brett said he’d spent 10 months negotiating the lease and he was done.

“We’re done talking,” he said. “We’re asking you to vote.”

In other action, the council voted 6-1 to spend $60,000 to $70,000 on a contract with Coopers & Lybrand of San Francisco, a national accounting firm.

Under the contract, the firm will spend four to six weeks studying the financial feasibility of the $100 million proposed River Park Square redevelopment project downtown.

Anderson voted against the contract.

, DataTimes