Public Vote Sought On Restructuring Of Cheney Taxes Signature Drive Follows City Council Action In/Around: Cheney

Some Cheney residents aren’t too happy with the way their City Council plans to tax them next year.

Last week, they submitted a petition with 492 names opposing a plan to rearrange the way the city collects utility taxes.

Despite the petition, the council approved the tax shift by a 4-3 vote.

Now, the people who submitted the petition are mounting another signature drive to force a referendum on the tax shift.

“This referendum, I think, would be an absolute landslide,” said K.C. Bergland, sponsor of last week’s petition and a supporter of the referendum.

At stake is about $150,000 of tax revenue that would go for basic services like law enforcement and fire protection.

City Administrator Jim Reinbold said loss of the money would mean some serious cuts in city departments that already are being forced to trim budgets for 1998.

The tax problem traces back to a finding by the state auditor that Cheney was illegally collecting about $300,000 worth of taxes from its electrical ratepayers.

To comply with the auditor’s opinion, the city has to cut the tax on electricity from 12 percent to 6 percent.

That amounts to about 7.5 percent of the city’s $4 million budget for non-utility services.

The City Council last week supported a plan that would shift part of the lost tax revenue onto other utility taxes, recapturing about half of the $300,000.

The taxes would increase from 11 percent to 22 percent on sewer, from 11 percent to 17 percent on water, and from 6 percent to 13 percent on garbage.

The average home utility bill would remain at $105 a year, when one balances the decrease of the electrical costs with the increase in taxes for other utilities.

Council members favoring the tax shift were Dwayne Paul, Kevin Hanson, Barbara Boots and Bill Shaw. Voting against the tax change were Curt Huff, Marliss Gregerson and Eileen Wahl.

Apparently, large commercial electrical users would see a reduction in their overall utility bills, Reinbold said.

Eastern Washington University would not be among those benefiting from the reduced electrical tax. The increase in the other taxes would offset the electrical savings.

Even with the $150,000 tax shift, Reinbold said the city will have to cut one street maintenance worker, reduce park maintenance and cut hours of police coverage.

Without the increases in sewer, water and garbage taxes, the city would be forced to make deeper cuts, he said.

Bergland said he doesn’t believe that.

He said the city has more employees than it needs and their salaries are getting too high. He cited the example of one clerical worker who would get a raise to $27,200 next year.

“Cut the budget,” Bergland said.

The referendum drive needs about 480 signatures to force the issue onto the ballot.

If the referendum qualifies for the ballot, Reinbold said he will hold the extra utility taxes in a reserve fund in case they must be refunded.

Annette Hendricks, a candidate against Bill Shaw in this month’s election, said Cheney residents are struggling to pay increased living costs, and higher taxes will make finances harder for them.

“People are just tired of it,” she said.

, DataTimes