No Gas Tax To Fix Roads, Voters Say Drivers Continue Pattern Of Rejecting Attempts To Raise Funds For Street Repair

Spokane County voters proved once again Tuesday that they hate new taxes more than potholes.

For the fourth time this decade, drivers turned back attempts to raise money for street repairs.

This time, it was a tax that would have added 2.3 cents to the cost of a gallon of fuel sold anywhere in the county. The tax would have raised about $4.7 million a year for five years, to split between Spokane County and the cities and towns within its boundaries.

With 27 percent of the precincts counted, 61 percent of voters were rejecting the issue.

Despite the record of past defeats, Tuesday’s election was a stunning loss for tax proponents, whose May poll showed overwhelming support. The issue was backed by business groups; only gas station owners campaigned against it.

Between the state and federal gas tax, Washington drivers already pay 42.5 cents in taxes on every gallon, noted opponents. Had the local tax passed, it would have been the first in Washington, making it difficult to compete with dealers in other counties, they said.

Opponents also warned that the tax would add to the cost of such staples as bread and milk.

Dale Stedman, secretary of the Spokane Area Good Roads Association, said the vote means Spokane’s pock-marked streets will only get worse. Short of taking money from law enforcement, parks and other city and county departments, every alternative for raising local money has been tried, Stedman said.

“If (voters) want it free, it’s not going to happen,” he said.

Attempts to raise local money for roads date to 1991, when the county imposed a $15 annual fee on every car and truck. The fee was so unpopular that county commissioners withdrew it before collecting a dime.

Two years later, voters countywide rejected a fuel tax. And Spokane city voters rejected a $37.5 million bond issue last year.

“Last time, we heard over and over again, ‘You should have used the gas tax. That’s the fair one,”’ said Stedman.

Tuesday’s rejection means the City Council will have to find another way to pay off $2.66 million the city borrowed for street repairs this summer. They had planned to pay off the debt with the city’s share of the gas tax.

, DataTimes