City Council also passes resolutions opening door to Spokane Tribal casino on city's western edge
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By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke visited Airway Heights Aug. 16 to drum up council support for a regional transportation benefit district, which he said would bring much-needed revenue to local transportation projects.
Mielke said state and federal funding for regional road maintenance and construction is expected to decline over the next few years. “We've looked at what (funding) options are available to local governments and found that there are relatively few,” he said.
This is why he and other local officials are advocating a countywide TBD, a special-purpose tax district that can be used to fund selected transportation improvements and maintenance projects through a variety of voter-approved sources, including sales and use taxes, impact fees and annual vehicle license fees.
State law allows city or county governments to create a TBD by ordinance following a public hearings process. After a TBD is established, license fees can be increased up to $20 without voter approval, or up to $100 per vehicle with voter say-so.
In order to establish a regional TBD, county commissioners have to adopt an ordinance and propose an interlocal agreement that is signed by 60 percent of county jurisdictions representing 75 percent of the population. This means at least nine of the 14 municipalities in the county must be convinced that a regional TBD is in their best interest.
The proposed countywide TBD would be governed by the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission, which would allocate funds generated by any voter-approved tax increases or license fees. Thirty percent of new revenues would leverage “projects of regional significance,” while the remaining 70 percent would be distributed based on population and road use to each jurisdiction for funding local street projects.
If $20 million were generated by a new fee, for instance, Airway Heights would be allocated $129,627 for local use, while Cheney would get $235,590 and Medical Lake would see $110,441. Meanwhile, $4,923,382 would be set aside for projects SRTC determines would benefit two or more jurisdictions.
Mielke brought an entourage of supporters with him last week, including representatives of the Spokane Area Good Roads Association, the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission and the West Plains Chamber of Commerce.
A public opinion poll conducted by the three organizations showed that of the 300 people surveyed, 76 percent would like to see the county and cities develop a joint plan to address funding transportation maintenance and construction issues. Just 57 percent said they would favor new fees or taxes for local projects at this time, however.
Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing said committees will now consider the notion of a regional TBD before it is brought back before council for a decision in the next month or so.
In other Airway Heights business, council passed a series of resolutions last Monday that pave the way for a new casino on 145 acres of Spokane Tribe land just west of Airway Heights.
The tribe will make annual payments to the city and the county to compensate them for services to the tribe's untaxable land. Prior to when the city annexes the land, 80 percent of this payment will go to the county and 20 to city. After annexation the payments will reverse, with 20 percent going to the county and 80 percent to the city. Payments will rise over 10 years, from $14,500 to $29,000, until the federal government approves a casino, after which the payments would increase in order to mitigate the casino's impact to the region.
Council signed off on an interlocal agreement for a single-source ambulance service with American Medical Response, which also applies to the cities of Medical Lake and Cheney as well as Spokane County fire districts 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13 and the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
After a half-hour discussion council approved a resolution supporting Complete Streets, a plan sponsored by SRTC that urges local governments to consider all users of city streets when planning.
Some council members expressed concern that Complete Streets could force cities to overemphasize street accommodations for bike and pedestrian use, but city planner Derrick Braaten emphasized that the plan is non-binding and simply organizes current city planning. “It's a concept, it doesn't lock us in. What we decide to do depends on the specific transportation needs of every street,” he said.
A public hearing was held on the city's recent moratorium on mining zone applications, which Braaten explained does not affect current properties zoned for mining, only new applications to change existing land uses to mining. Staff will review the current ordinance and propose any changes to council before Dec. 6, when the moratorium expires.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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