Jonathan Brunt

Tax for streets overshadows talk of task force

A Spokane City Council vote two weeks ago rejecting a $20 annual vehicle tax appears to be only a bump in the road for supporters of the new fee. Council President Joe Shogan vowed this week to reconsider the issue, and the council will decide Monday if it will hold a Feb. 14 hearing on the vehicle tab fee.

Taxes on new development will be significantly lower than proposed thanks to a last-minute decision by the Spokane City Council. With a 4-2 vote, the council on Monday approved impact fees to pay for street projects expected to alleviate traffic congestion.

After racist literature was distributed throughout the region in 2009, a North Idaho anti-racism group mobilized leaders in Kootenai and Spokane counties to send a message at a news conference near the state line: Hate would not be tolerated in the Inland Northwest.  In the days following last week’s bombing attempt apparently targeting Martin Luther King Jr. Day marchers in Spokane, there was no such concerted effort. Some individuals spoke publicly to denounce the act, but no organizations emerged to the forefront to present a unified response. 

While political and religious leaders interviewed last week denounced the bombing attempt along the route of Spokane’s annual march honoring Martin Luther King Jr., they shared a range of opinions about how the Spokane community should respond. The Rev. Flora Bowers, Manito United Methodist Church:

Developers in Spokane likely will have to pay a one-time tax to upgrade streets that serve their new buildings.  A majority of the Spokane City Council on Tuesday indicated support to remove language in the city’s impact fee law that delayed implementation of the law since it was enacted in 2008. But the council was forced to delay a decision for at least a week to recalculate the final fee rates.

An analysis of recent wage increases shows that the pay of many local government workers is rising slightly slower than the rate of workers in the private sector. From 2002 to 2009, workers in the private sector in Spokane County experienced wage increases of 26.4 percent. Wages of workers in local government were up 24.7 percent.

The fate of a $25 million contract to operate the city’s West Plains trash incinerator will rest with Spokane County commissioners. The Spokane City Council on Monday voted 6-1 to approve a three-year contract with Wheelabrator, the subsidiary of Waste Management that has operated Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Plant since it began operations in the early 1990s.

Spokane’s car owners won’t have to pay an extra city tax to pay for street upgrades. After months of often-contentious debate, a divided Spokane City Council on Monday rejected a $20 annual fee on vehicle tabs.

Snyder booted from STA board

Spokane's car owners won't have to pay an extra tax to help pay for streets. After months of debate, the Spokane City Council on Monday rejected a $20 annual fee on vehicle tabs.

Spokane’s fire battalion chiefs, most of whom earned at least $40,000 in overtime in 2010, recently voted down a contract concession that would have cost them $20 a month. Battalion Chief Dan Brown, president of the Spokane Association of Fire Officers, said his group worked with the city to save money but wasn’t interested in making medical concessions. He noted that the chiefs several years ago agreed to pay the highest medical premium among the city’s unions. Currently chiefs pay $400 or more a month for coverage – four times more than some other city workers, he said.

More live TV coming to Spokane's CityCable 5

The Spokane Regional Solid Waste System has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine for violating mercury pollution standards. The fine results from annual testing in June during which the Waste-to-Energy Plant on the West Plains exceeded mercury limits.

A landscape architect is the newest member of the Spokane Park Board. The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously approved Mayor Mary Verner’s appointment of Ken Van Voorhis to the board until February 2012.