City considers tax on cable TV

Searching for ways to ease major budget cuts, members of the Spokane City Council on Thursday said they are considering an increase in the city’s utility tax on cable television service.

The city could potentially raise $1.5 million a year from cable subscribers. It was not clear exactly how much the tax would cost individual customers, but one official said it would likely be about $2.50 a month.

Council members are trying to find money to restore proposed cuts in police, prosecutor, fire and library services, as well as reductions in funding for community centers.

Councilman Al French said a tax on cable television service is less onerous on poor residents than raising the city’s tax on its own water, sewer and garbage utilities, which are considered indispensable. Cable television is more of a luxury, he said.

Currently, the tax on cable television is applied as a credit to the franchise fee paid to the city by Comcast, but the city has the option of rescinding that credit and applying the tax directly, city officials said.

The council will take up the tax proposal as part of its wider budget deliberations during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in Council Chambers. That’s when any proposed changes to the budget will be considered, said Council President Dennis Hession. The council may take a final vote on the city budget during the meeting.

Under the budget proposed by Mayor Jim West, the city would cut nearly $18 million in services over the general fund spending plan approved a year ago. As many as 75 police and fire positions would be lost along with another 65 positions across the $118 million general fund for 2005. Another 28 jobs were cut in September.

Because of an early retirement program being offered by the city and vacancies in some departments, the total number of layoffs would be considerably less than the 140 jobs that are slated for cuts at the end of the year.

Council members on Thursday said they may eliminate funding for an assistant fire chief and a fire education officer in order to put more money toward station house firefighters assigned to fire rigs.

The council also is considering a reduction of $25,000 in a contract with the Downtown Spokane Partnership for security patrols and a sidewalk cleanup program downtown. City Hall travel would be reduced by $12,500, while the City Council’s own budget would be cut by $50,000.

Council members apparently are not considering an increase in the tax on city water, sewer and garbage service. Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers has called for a one-year increase in the tax from 17 percent to 18 percent to ease the current budget crisis and restore some spending in police and fire services.

The council is considering other ways of raising revenue for 2006, including a ballot measure to raise property taxes for police and fire services.

Rodgers has sought cuts in city contributions to an affordable health care program known as Project Access and cuts in city spending on economic development. She also has backed a freeze in salaries of 17 top city officials who are exempt from collective bargaining and Civil Service. She failed to gain support for most of her proposals.

At one point, Hession said he wanted to restore funding to community centers. The city’s contribution to West Central Community Center would drop from $135,000 in 2004 to $75,000 next year. Cuts to three other community centers would be smaller.

Hession declined to support cuts suggested by Rodgers.

After Hession called for restoration of community center funds, Rodgers turned to Hession and said, “You might have to go back and reduce your spending.”

West apparently has won funding for a new division of economic development and the addition to the budget of a new position of economic development director. Staffing would largely come from a realignment of existing personnel. But the new director and other costs would require $145,000 in new spending in 2005.

West and some council members argued that a coordinated economic development effort would eventually bring additional tax revenue to the city, making the spending for a new director the equivalent of an investment in growth.

“We haven’t had growth in the city for the last two or three years,” said Councilman Al French. “If this continues we can turn out the lights and move to Post Falls.”