Short-Term Hopes Likely To Be Dashed

People gripe about potholes and congested roads. People also gripe about taxes and inefficient bureaucracy. Therein lies a dilemma.

Here in Spokane, as in Washington state generally, roads are in poor shape. This limits our capacity for economic growth and, as population grows, it means congestion and quality of life will worsen. Where will government find money to fix our roads?

In 1997, Spokane County voters stomped a 2.3-cent gas tax increase intended to improve local roads. In 1999, Washington state voters approved Initiative 695, repealing the motor vehicle tax and killing funds for major road projects.

It seems voters hate taxes more than they hate bad roads. Assuming they also are concerned about roads, these votes seem to say that the public wants state and local transportation agencies to spend more efficiently the money they already have. So far, state and local transportation agencies have not implemented any efficiencies dramatic enough to restore the public trust required for passage of a tax increase.

Nonetheless, the city of Spokane is talking, again, about raising taxes to fix its roads. The need is great and we sympathize with the effort. But the tax options won’t please voters: 1, Businesses, especially Spokane’s many small businesses, detest proposals for a business-and-occupation tax because it applies to gross income rather than net income; 2, Property taxes are regressive; 3, City Councilman Steve Eugster proposes to charge each residence and business a fee for using streets, based on a formula that makes arbitrary assumptions about how much traffic each home and business generates. (The state Supreme Court knocked down a somewhat similar tactic when Seattle tried it. How many more lawsuits can the city of Spokane afford?); 4, Sales taxes already are painfully high; and 5, State law does clearly allow a local-option gas tax, the fairest user fee - the more you drive and the heavier your vehicle, the more you pay. But voters have already nixed that, and recently.

The city might hope for aid from the Legislature someday but its credibility with legislators will suffer if it uses dollars intended for I-695 relief on attorney fees in the River Park Square feud.

The nearest thing to a solution is one that will require several more months of patience. Washington state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation (see the guest column on Page B7) has worked for two years to propose reforms in Washington’s convoluted system for the funding and oversight of transportation projects. If the Legislature and governor follow through next year, maybe there will be hope. Until then, the outlook is grim.