State should spread ferry replacement funds across regions

During the last legislative session the state passed House Bill 1129, which requires vehicle owners who register online or at a county auditor’s office to pay $5 for registration renewal and $12 for transferring a certificate of title. Money from these fees will pay for ferry replacement throughout the state.

The bill applies to vehicle registrations that are due on or after Jan. 1, 2015, and certificate of title transactions processed on or after the same day. Owners who register through private license agents will not pay these increases as they are already charged this amount for “convenience fees.”

The money raised from this bill will supposedly pay for a new ferry, improve transportation, reduce operation costs and sustain shipyard jobs. Gov. Jay Inslee defended the ferry system.

The state’s desire to use taxes to improve ferries is fine for people who live on the western side of the state. They will likely use the system more frequently as opposed to residents from the eastern part of Washington.

These citizens have no choice to pay since the bill has already passed.

It is a little bit of an inconvenience for people on the eastern side of the state as they may only ride the ferry when they visit the west side.

The Cheney Free Press editorial board thinks the state should take the funds raised from this bill and distribute an equal amount to each region. Rather than use it to pay for just the ferry system, this money could help pay for transportation issues across Washington state.

If we’re going to pay for one region’s transportation issues, that region should help pay for the transportation issues happening in the rest of the state. These regions could use these funds for several improvement projects.

The state could work with the Department of Transporation to look at specific projects in each region.

Cities like Cheney, Airway Heights and Medical Lake could use the funds for new asphalt, chip-seal replacement and other plans to help streets that need to be fixed. In Spokane, streets such as Monroe, Mission and Lincoln are a few that are in need of fixing.

There are already several road improvement projects happening in the West Plains, such as the resurfacing of Highway 2, but city roads should be put on the project to-do list as well.

The state could use this money for improvements along SR 904. There is also a plan to widen U.S. Highway 2 in the southern part of Washington to help relieve congestion.

Another use of the funds could go toward the improvement and beautification projects for the West Plains Sub-area Transporation Plan.

In addition to improving the roads, these funds could improve the state’s train and bus systems.

We are not saying we are against the state’s ferry system. It provides a service to Washington citizens just like other public transportation systems and the aging ferry fleets could certainly use upgrading.

We’re merely saying that this money could help the entire state and pave the way for better roads in the future.