Costs Mount For Incorporation Votes

By the time next month’s incorporation votes are counted, efforts to form cities in the Spokane Valley will have cost county taxpayers nearly $200,000.

Along with the cost of the upcoming vote on forming the cities of Evergreen and Opportunity, that figure includes Valley-wide elections in 1990, 1994 and 1995 and the 1996 election that was called off five weeks before the planned vote.

Spokane County taxpayers will spend an estimated $36,850 on the Feb. 4 incorporation vote, election officials said.

The first three unsuccessful attempts at incorporation cost a total of $129,890, according to Tom Wilbur, county elections supervisor. That works out to $5.76 per “yes” vote.

Wilbur said the cost of last year’s aborted incorporation attempt was never tallied and he refused to offer an estimate. But he did say that most election costs are incurred before the vote actually takes place.

Among the expenses incurred before last year’s election was called off were the printing of an absentee voter’s guide and the time the elections staff spent preparing the guide and ballot, Wilbur said.

“We have bills that were accrued,” he said. “Certainly there were costs.”

One factor that has driven up the cost of the three previous incorporation elections, Wilbur said, is that two of them have been special elections. Special elections cost the county more because typically there are very few issues on the ballot, meaning costs often cannot be shared with other jurisdictions.

Only the 1990 vote on the proposed city of Chief Joseph was included on a November general election ballot. Voters soundly defeated that proposal.

Since then, Valley-wide runs at incorporation have appeared on special election ballots in April 1994 and May 1995. Residents voted on other issues in only one of those elections, while rejecting both incorporation attempts.

No other issues will appear on ballots next month with the proposals to form the cities of Evergreen and Opportunity.

Only registered voters who live within the boundaries of the proposed cities are allowed to vote. There are 11,145 eligible voters in Opportunity, and 8,363 in Evergreen, elections officials said.

Opportunity would be bounded by Interstate 90 on the north, 16th Avenue on the south, Argonne Road on the west and Evergreen Road on the east, a 6-square mile area.

Evergreen would be bounded by the Spokane River on the north, 24th Avenue on the south, Evergreen Road on the west and Barker Road on the east, an 8-square mile area.

To pass, each incorporation proposal needs 50 percent approval, plus one vote.

Turnout for special elections has historically been small. The past two votes on incorporation each attracted only about 45 percent of eligible voters.

“People generally aren’t too interested in money issues,” Wilbur said. “But they will turn out in droves for personality issues.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Previous votes How the Valley voted Here’s how residents voted in past Valley incorporation elections, showing approval percentages and total vote: 1990: 33.7 percent (8,647 for; 16,986 against) 1994: 44.1 percent (7,652 for; 9,689 against) 1995: 41.3 percent (6,266 for; 8,922 against) How proposed cities voted Here’s a look at how the proposed cities of Evergreen and Opportunity voted during the past incorporation elections, showing approval percentages and total vote: 1990 Evergreen: 35.2 percent (1,250 for; 2,297 against) Opportunity: 38 percent (2,013 for; 3,278 against) *Evergreen 2: 35.1 percent (125 for; 231 against) 1994 Evergreen: 45 percent (1,273 for; 1,529 against) Opportunity: 49.9 percent (2,051 for; 2,060 against) *Evergreen 2: 45 percent (125 for; 153 against) 1995 Evergreen: 42.8 percent (1,486 for; 2,009 against) Opportunity: 46.3 percent (1,533 for; 1,780 against) *Evergreen 2: 47.2 percent (128 for; 143 against) * Note: The proposed cities share the Evergreen 2 precinct, with most of the precinct falling within the city of Evergreen.