August 11, 2010 in City

Commissioners finalize raceway funds

Improvements expected to be reimbursed by bond sale
By The Spokesman-Review
 
Tags:Bonnie MagerMark RichardMarshall FarnellSpokane County CommissionSpokane County commissionersSpokane County RacewayTodd Mielketrack realignment
A taxing question

Spokane and other cities have only to ask if they want a regional vehicle license tax, Spokane County commissioners said Tuesday.

They were responding to Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan’s statement Monday that he would like a regional, not city-only, approach to the tax, but commissioners have balked at the idea.

Commissioner Todd Mielke said he has been promoting a regional approach for a couple of years.

Commissioners voted unanimously to reiterate their position in a letter to cities throughout the county.

Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager dissented again Tuesday during final action on a $588,500 racetrack expenditure.

Commissioners Todd Mielke and Mark Richard said the money was needed for safety improvements at Spokane County Raceway.

Mager said neither the improvements nor the racetrack are needed.

Tuesday’s appropriation will allow the road course to be realigned and separated from the drag strip. Delivery trucks and other vehicles no longer will have to cross the road track to reach the raceway office.

Also, road course users will be protected from traction problems and hazardous drag strip barriers.

Mielke said the county’s risk management staff recommended the track realignment when he and Richard voted to buy it.

Richard said a reason he supported the purchase was so young people could race their cars on a track instead of public roads, but the raceway puts them at risk.

“You make a good point that there are risks inherent in the racing business, and it’s another good reason that the county shouldn’t be owning a racetrack,” Mager said.

Richard said the improvements won’t deplete the general fund, which will be reimbursed by a bond sale that will be repaid by rental car and real estate taxes.

Marshall Farnell, the county’s chief executive officer, was in San Francisco Tuesday to arrange a package of bonds to be sold by the end of the month, including $7.1 million for the raceway.

The raceway bonds include nearly $5.4 million to pay off a purchase loan, $750,000 for sewer and water pipes on the raceway grounds (Airway Heights will bring utility service to the boundary), $100,000 to clean up contaminated soil and $805,900 in safety improvements.

Although Mager opposed the road course improvements, she voted for the soil cleanup and previously voted to improve spectator safety and handicap access.

The real estate excise tax and tax on car rentals, both existing taxes, are limited to capital projects by state law.

The real estate excise tax – 0.25 percent of sale prices – generated $1.1 million last year and is expected to generate nearly $1.2 million this year.

The 1 percent rental car tax brought in $380,000 last year and is expected to produce about $321,000 this year.

Farnell said in a telephone interview that “nothing will be cut back” because he has been planning the proposed use since the county purchased the 314.7-acre raceway in April 2008 for $4.3 million.

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Four comments on this story so far. Add yours!

  • DPA on August 11 at 7:08 a.m.

    $7.1 million spent on a race track the citizens of Spokane County doesn’t want and can’t afford? $7.1 million against the backdrop of the commissioner’s continuing severe cuts to public safety? $7.1 million when the county’s budget office is predicting 4 to 5 percent cuts to each department’s budget for 2011? The posecutor’s office has been cut so severely that it is now unable to prosecute cases referred to it by law enforcement. Where are the commissioner’s priorities?
    CEO Farnell’s comment that “nothing will be cut back” must refer only to the money spent on the track. That comment certainly doesn’t apply to the services the county is required to offer its’ citizens.
    $7.1 million. Imagine the good that could have been done with that money rather than sinking it into the racetrack money pit. Get rid of these commissioners.

  • liarsinnews on August 11 at 8:10 a.m.

    If in fact Richard told the writer of the story he supported the purchase is it helps those who wish to race, was not even mentioned in a email I received from him when I criticized him for his reckless spending taxpayer money for the stupid track. I wouldn`t believe anything that comes out of his mouth anyway after he out bid a private citizen for the racetrack. Richard and Mielke both need to go.

  • MrDavis on August 11 at 8:38 a.m.

    It’s getting more and more difficult to attribute this gross mismanagement to garden variety incompetence. Whatever is motivating these commissioners is obviously overpowering even their desire to retain elected office.

  • PlanB on August 11 at 10:25 a.m.

    I believe what is motivating the commissioners is the overwhelming outpouring of support that was shown for the county to purchase the track when it went up for sale.

    Just because it ain’t your deal doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable to the public. I don’t use the fairgrounds or baseball stadium, but I’m not screaming about the money that gets spent on those facilities.

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