Sta Should Pay Up

Well, of course the board of the Spokane Transit Authority would rather not help pay for upkeep of the severely potholed pavement along its bus routes.

STA enjoys its hoard of bullion and has some swanky buildings to prove it. But the more shocking evidence of STA’s skill at milking taxpayers is a reserve of $33 million that for years has remained larger than the agency’s entire annual operating budget. Some government entities are pleased with a 2 percent reserve.

Pending in the Legislature is a bill to let STA only if it chooses - help the city and county with the cost of maintaining streets its buses use. It’s a reasonable idea, given the impact of buses on roads.

STA’s board should ponder the alternative: a voter referendum repealing STA’s current share of the local sales tax and dropping it to a level that would yield a more seemly reserve. In conjunction with that, the city and county could seek a local-option gasoline tax to raise more money for road maintenance. These actions would force radical, possibly harmful cuts in STA’s spending habits, while the pending legislation only allows STA to share, voluntarily, an obligation that it clearly can afford.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board