No lack of comment on Valley budget

Mike Baker drove 185 miles Tuesday to speak his mind to the Spokane Valley City Council about a proposed city utility tax.

But because of confusion during the council meeting, Baker and at least three other citizens thought they weren’t allowed to speak out, so remained mute.

“I’m a little disappointed,” said Dan Villalobos of Inland Power & Light Co.

Baker, of Modern Electric Water Company, who returned from a trip to Okanogan County, said he was satisfied knowing there would be other opportunities in the future.

Last week, City Manager Dave Mercier recommended that the council impose a 6 percent utility tax starting Jan. 1. The city has forecasted six years into its financial future and has found that revenues are growing 1 percent while the cost of expenditures is rowing 6 percent to 8 percent. Closing that gap with a utility tax is the best option for the long-term health of Spokane Valley, Mercier said last week.

The tax would be applied to electricity, natural gas, garbage collection and telephone service.

The city held a public hearing on the proposed 2005 budget Tuesday. But the utility tax isn’t part of the budget because the council hasn’t decided yet whether it wants to enact it. Commenting on the tax during the budget hearing would have been off topic. Miscommunication during the meeting’s other public speaking opportunities kept citizens concerned about the tax proposal in their seats.

Others spoke out, though, on Spokane Valley’s plan for spending next year.

West Valley High School Principal Gene Sementi thanked the council for not cutting the schools’ police officers.

Ed Mertens, who campaigned to form the city in 2002, said despite the poor fiscal forecast, he’s glad to see businesses sprucing up their appearances and doing what they can to thrive.

“The best thing we can all do is encourage business here in the Spokane Valley so we can get more tax revenue,” he said. “I just encourage everyone to shop Spokane Valley.”

Randy Fewel, president and CEO of Inland Northwest Bank, urged the council to grant the Spokane Regional Economic Development Council’s request for $175,000 from the budget. The EDC works to recruit businesses to the region and spur the economy in other ways.

“I ask that you not think of it as an expense, but think of it as an investment,” he said.

The city gave the EDC $55,000 this year. The 2005 budget proposal calls for spending the same amount next year.

If the council adopts the utility tax, it would build a $2.5 million reserve and next year pay off the debt incurred to pay the city’s start-up costs. In following years, the tax would ensure that road maintenance, police and other services are maintained at the level citizens get now. If it’s not adopted, the city will face catastrophic cuts, staff members have said.

John O’Rourke, director of the Citizens Utility Alliance, which helps low-income people pay their utility bills, told a reporter before the meeting that utility taxes are unfair because they place a heavier burden on people who don’t make a lot of money. After the meeting, Villalobos agreed.

“There’s a disproportionate impact on those who are least able to pay,” he said.

Villalobos said individuals wouldn’t be the only ones hurt. Central Valley School District would have to pay $12,000 in taxes on the power it uses in just four of its schools, those that are on Inland Power’s grid, he said. That doesn’t include the money the district would have to pay for taxes on other utilities.

Citizens can testify about the utility tax at the Oct. 26 council meeting.