An End To Park Money? Commissioners Will Decide If Conservation Futures Tax Will Continue Through 1997

A tax used to set aside nearly 500 acres for Spokane county parks and open spaces will be debated tonight.

County commissioners agree that the Conservation Futures Tax ought to be placed on the ballot for an advisory vote sometime in 1997.

Tonight, they’ll decide whether the tax should continue next year, so there’s no interruption in the money flow before the public gets a chance to vote.

The tax, which the county started collecting in 1994, is supposed to end on Dec. 31. It costs landowners 6 cents for every $1,000 of property value. That’s $9 a year for a $150,000 home.

In three years, the tax has collected nearly $2.6 million from city and county taxpayers. The county has spent about $1.66 million on four pieces of property.

Commissioner John Roskelley wants the tax continued. His colleagues, Commissioners Steve Hasson and Phil Harris, so far have said no.

“Of course, that’s all predicated on what we hear tomorrow,” Hasson said Monday. The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the public works building, 1026 W. Broadway.

Hasson voted against the tax in 1993, saying he wanted voter approval. Former Commissioners Skip Chilberg and Pat Mummey approved it, but agreed that it last only through the end of 1996.

Hasson tried again in 1995 to put the tax on the ballot. Harris and former Commissioner George Marlton voted against the proposal.

“I’ve always counted the conservations futures tax as very constructive,” Hasson said. “If you offer something constructive to the voters, they’ll go for it.”

Commissioners have received at least 100 letters in recent weeks asking that they continue the tax, Hasson said. He knows of no one who opposes it.

A scientific survey commissioned by The Spokesman-Review and KHQ-TV showed that 85 percent of city and county residents think government should not cut spending for parks. Twelve percent of the 408 adults surveyed said government should spend “somewhat” or “significantly” less on parks. The survey has a 5 percent margin of error.

If the tax is interrupted “we lose the time and the opportunity” to buy land slated for development, said Craig Volosing, a member of the county parks advisory board. “It’s a matter of seizing opportunities.”

At least 10 Washington counties use the conservation futures tax, either to buy land or development rights, said county parks manager Wyn Birkenthal.

Spokane County used the tax to buy land at Liberty Lake, in west Spokane, on the south shore of Long Lake and adjacent to Downriver Golf Course. The county has failed to meet one of the tax’s main objectives: buying land in the rapidly growing North Side suburbs.

“To date, we have examined 27 different parcels on the North Side,” Birkenthal said. In each case, the land was deemed unsuitable or its owner wasn’t interested in selling, he said.

The county last year began negotiations for 820 acres of elk habitat south of the Dishman Hills Natural Area, called Big Rock Ridge. A private organization, the Trust for Public Lands, represents the county in the talks because of its expertise in land negotiations, Birkenthal said.

“It’s complicated by family ownership with multiple owners,” Birkenthal said.

The state Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation rated Big Rock among the top three unprotected urban wildlife areas in the state, and agreed to pay up to $500,000 toward the purchase.

Among other parcels the county is negotiating to buy is one near Browne Mountain and another along the Little Spokane River.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo; 2 Graphics: Park spending about right; The Conservation Futures Program