Commission Votes Against Placing Taxes On September Ballot

In a rare split vote, Spokane County commissioners voted Tuesday against putting two environmental taxes before voters on the September ballot.

The 2-1 votes represent one of the few occasions that Republican Commissioners Steve Hasson and Phil Harris have been on opposite sides.

In fact, Hasson said last week he had both Harris’ and Democrat George Marlton’s support for an advisory measure that would have asked county voters whether to repeal or keep the taxes.

Instead, Harris and Marlton voted to let the conservation futures tax run its course through 1996 as a previous county commission had decided.

Revenues have been used since early 1994 to acquire and protect pristine property.

Although Hasson indicated he supported the tax, he repeated Tuesday that voters should have the final say since the county was “getting in their back pockets.”

Harris balked at the idea, saying repealing the tax could thwart land deals already under negotiation.

He and Marlton also opposed Hasson on an advisory vote to repeal the stormwater utility service charge, levied on urban residents in unincorporated areas.

Residents pay an average of $10 a year, while businesses pay more. The fee is used for watershed planning, acquiring natural drainage and building new stormwater systems.

Commission candidate John Roskelley, a member of the county planning commission and parks and recreation advisory committee, lobbied earlier Tuesday for both taxes.

Roskelley objected to commissioners waiting six weeks before the primary to announce the ballot measures that would repeal the taxes. That was not enough time to educate voters about the worthiness of the measures, he said.

“I don’t care for taxes any more than the next homeowner,” he said at a news conference, “but if the commissioners are going to make a political statement, they need to allow the public enough time to make an educated decision. Two months’ leeway smacks of politics as usual.”

It’s not known whether Roskelley’s criticisms swayed the commission vote.

He’s running against Marlton, who was appointed to the board six weeks ago and has rarely spoken out on issues, deciding instead to play it safe.

Marlton has labeled Roskelley, a mountaineer and author, as an extremist environmentalist.

Marlton voiced his support for the conservation futures tax by saying, “I’m not a tree-hugging type of environmentalist but a conservationist.”

, DataTimes