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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Local Gasoline Tax Would Be A First Will Spokane Voters Tax Themselves To Fix Streets?

It may have seemed this summer that every road in town was closed for repairs.

Hardly, city engineers say.

Fixing everything that’s wrong with city streets would cost about $50 million. About $30 million would do the trick outside city limits, according to Spokane County officials.

Voters countywide have a chance Tuesday to provide a small slice of that money when they’re asked to approve a tax of 2.3 cents for every gallon of fuel sold in the county.

The tax, which would raise about $4.7 million a year, would end in five years and could be spent only on street repairs. About $2.7 million would go to the county, $1.8 million to the city and $200,000 to the small towns in the county.

If Spokane voters pass the tax, they’ll be the first in Washington state. No place in the state has a local fuel tax now.

A May poll commissioned by business groups indicates voters may approve the tax - but only if they shun tradition. Three times this decade, drivers have beaten back tax proposals to fix streets.

In 1991, it was an annual fee of $15 per car or truck. County commissioners approved it, then quickly withdrew the plan amid citizen outrage. Voters countywide rejected a fuel tax in 1993. And city of Spokane voters turned down a $37.5 million bond issue last year.

In May, City Council members pleaded with county commissioners to put the local-option gas tax on the ballot. Four months later, council members borrowed $2.66 million to repair five of the city’s worst streets.

Money from the gas tax would be used to pay off that loan. If the tax doesn’t pass, the city will have to cut other services to come up with the money.

The fuel tax “is kind of a last-gasp effort,” said Ed Sharman of the Inland Automobile Association.

Sharman said that if high repair bills for road-damaged cars don’t persuade voters to support the tax, embarrassment should.

“Not just tourists, but business people thinking about moving their offices to Spokane are going to look at those streets,” he said.

The Washington Oil Marketers Association, which opposes the tax, doesn’t deny the streets need help, said Tom Hemingway, association vice president and co-owner of the Broadway truck stops.

But Washington drivers already pay the nation’s 11th-highest gas tax at 42.5 cents a gallon, Hemingway said. That includes 23 cents for the state and about 19.5 cents for the federal government.

A local gas tax would be tough on dealers who compete with Idaho, Hemingway said. It could create “border price wars” between dealers in Spokane and those in surrounding counties, he said.

And the tax would be especially devastating if it is followed by a statewide increase in the fuel tax, said Hemingway.

Last year, legislators considered increases ranging from 5 cents to 9 cents, and they are scheduled to continue the debate this year.

But the odds of a hike being passed in an election year “are a long ways from a sure thing. I think less than 50-50,” said Sen. Eugene Prince, R-Thornton, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Opponents of the local-option gas tax note that county drivers pay more in state fuel taxes than the county gets in return. Balancing those numbers would generate nearly twice the expected revenue of the proposed local gas tax, they say.

Between 1986 and 1995, Spokane County drivers contributed $309 million in state gas taxes, according to Department of Transportation figures. The return to the county was about $237 million.

“They put in a buck; they got back 77 cents,” said Dan Falter, a Department of Transportation economist in Olympia.

The figures are similar in all urban counties. Snohomish County’s return was 83 cents on the dollar; King County got back 78 cents; Pierce County got only 62 cents.

Urban drivers subsidize their rural cousins. None of the eight rural counties surrounding Spokane paid more than it received, and the average return was $4.15 on the dollar. Garfield County netted a whopping $6.61 for every dollar collected.

Such disparities are unavoidable because rural areas can’t raise enough money to pay for their own street work, said Sharman. He argues that urban dwellers benefit every time they drive cross-state or buy goods that originate in or cross rural counties.

Supporters say the gas tax hike is fair because only those who use the roads will pay the tax. But opponents warn that transportation costs affect the price of everything from bread to box springs.

“How about the guy who rides the bus because he can’t afford a car? Now he’s going to pay more for everything,” said Hemingway.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Where the gas tax money would go

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GAS TAX Voters on Tuesday will decide whether to collect a 2.3-cent tax for every gallon of gasoline or diesel sold in Spokane County. The tax would end in five years, and the money could only be used on street repairs.

This sidebar appeared with the story: GAS TAX Voters on Tuesday will decide whether to collect a 2.3-cent tax for every gallon of gasoline or diesel sold in Spokane County. The tax would end in five years, and the money could only be used on street repairs.