Valley Chamber Split On Charter

Valley business leaders who responded to a recent survey were split evenly on the issue of Spokane city-county consolidation.

Seventy-three Valley Chamber of Commerce members said they support consolidation. Another 73 oppose the idea. Sixteen said they are undecided.

“I expected the vote of our membership to be close, but a tie did surprise me,” said Executive Director Ray Murphy.

The survey, which the chamber mailed early this month, went to all 568 chamber members; 29 percent responded.

“We feel that’s a pretty representative sampling,” said chamber President John Hanson.

As a result of the survey, the chamber’s board of directors won’t take a stand on consolidation, Hanson said.

The Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, which represents 2,172 businesses throughout the region, endorsed consolidation after sending a committee to visit Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C., two other communities with consolidated governments.

Riding the fence on important local issues is a tradition at the Valley chamber. Since 1990, its board has remained neutral during three drives to form Valley cities, another issue that splits members.

Hanson said taking a stand would only offend members. It’s better to provide information from both sides and let voters decide, he added.

Also, he said, many board members feel backers have not provided enough information about either consolidation or incorporation. They want to know, for instance, whether taxes would increase.

“Conceptually, there’s a lot of good ideas on both,” he said. “But just to do it for the sake of doing it and hope that things work out down the road, that’s too big a decision.”

Hanson said the Valley chamber regularly takes stands on other issues that affect business.

For instance, members lobbied for a sales-tax exemption for companies buying manufacturing equipment. And the board decided Tuesday to support Referendum 48, which would require government to compensate property owners for regulations that reduce the value of their property.

The consolidation survey included statements written by opponents and proponents, both of whom made some misleading comments.

Opponents wrote that consolidation would cost suburban residents $20 million a year. But they didn’t report that the consultant who made that estimate assumed the money would be spent providing better services in the suburbs.

Charter supporters wrote that the government would have no taxing authority “that doesn’t already exist today for the city and county.” They didn’t note that the utility tax, which can’t be used outside city limits, could spread to the Valley if the charter passes.

, DataTimes