Impact On City Isn’t The Issue, Boundary Board Told

One of the reasons some people oppose the formation of a city in the Spokane Valley is that it would cost Spokane County a lot of money.

The county faces a net loss of about $10 million in tax revenue if a city forms.

But Joe McKinnon told members of the state Boundary Review Board earlier this week that they shouldn’t consider that a basis to reject the latest incorporation proposal.

“If that logic applied, the city of Spokane should unincorporate,” McKinnon said at a public hearing held Monday night.

McKinnon, co-chairman of Citizens for Valley Incorporation, told the board it should judge the incorporation proposal on its own merits, not on its potential impacts on other jurisdictions.

If the board members were listening, apparently nobody else was.

Because for the next three hours, people paraded to the podium to blast a request from the city of Spokane to exclude the Yardley industrial area from the incorporation boundaries.

The reason most of them gave?

The potential financial impacts on governmental jurisdictions that get tax revenue from Yardley, including Valley Fire, the county library district and several water districts.

The city’s request is seen by many as a prelude to annexation.

If Yardley becomes part of the city of Spokane, the property taxes generated from the highly industrial area would go into the city’s coffers.

“The reason we’re insisting on the boundary line being at the great wall of Havana is you can see the impact on the Valley service areas if it is moved farther east,” said Howard Herman, who co-chairs Citizens for Valley Incorporation with McKinnon.

Hmmmmm. Is it us or is there a double standard at work here?

Conflicts aplenty

Monday’s meeting was only minutes old when controversy surfaced.

Boundary Review Board chairwoman Sally Reynolds announced that board member Lawrence Stone had disqualified himself from the incorporation proceedings.

It seems Stone owns some property in the Yardley area, and Herman didn’t think the board member could be impartial in judging the city of Spokane’s request.

He sent Reynolds a letter asking that Stone excuse himself from the proceedings, which he did.

Moments after that announcement, board member Annemarie Wiser said she may have a potential conflict as well and asked the board if she should step down.

Wiser and her husband recently purchased some commercial property near First and Farr, smack in the middle of the proposed Valley city.

The board voted to keep her on, though, with Reynolds saying she was “extremely concerned” about the ability of the board to make a good decision with only three members.

Cash flow

The money isn’t exactly rolling in.

In the past month, Citizens for Valley Incorporation has raised just more than $1,400, bringing its account balance to about $3,800.

The group hopes to raise more than $50,000 between now and a May election, so the group’s fund-raiser and heavy equipment tycoon Ray Hanson needs to get busy.

Big contributors so far include private contractor Ron Sloan, who has given $625, and Bert Shields Auto supply, which has forked over $350.

Hearing reminder

The Boundary Review Board will continue accepting testimony on the incorporation proposal Thursday.

Anyone with something to say on the proposal is welcome.

The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room of the county Public Works Building, W1026 Broadway.

The board must wrap up its hearings, make final decisions on boundaries and issue a recommendation on the proposal by mid-March if an election can be held May 16.

The board has the authority to alter the boundaries, as long as it doesn’t change the area of the proposed city by more than 10 percent.