County transit to shrink size of taxing district

A Spokane County transportation board voted Thursday to shrink its boundaries, a move that will slightly lower the amount of money that goes toward public transit, but may give future Spokane Transit Authority ballot issues a better chance at passing.

The Public Transportation Improvement Conference decided to rein in the boundaries of an area that collects a 0.6 percent sales tax, which goes primarily to the Spokane Transit Authority.

The move was an attempt to conform to the state Growth Management Act, said board member Brian Sayrs. The areas that were removed from the existing boundaries were outside the county’s urban growth areas and already do not receive bus service.

“They don’t receive services now, so they won’t pay the taxes in those areas,” Sayrs said.

Spokane City Councilman Al French, who served as the chairman of the board that made the decision, said rural areas have never received transit service and likely won’t any time soon, and the amount of money generated from the areas was “insignificant.”

“Public transportation is an urban service,” he said. “Because we don’t provide services in that area, in my mind it’s not appropriate that we should be assessing a sales tax.”

The new boundary keeps Cheney, Medical Lake, Fairchild AFB and Liberty Lake within the area. Now excluded are areas north of Airway Heights, south of Cheney and north and south of Liberty Lake.

In the past, those areas didn’t receive service and, consequently, were sometimes less inclined to vote in favor of sales taxes meant to raise funds for STA, Sayrs said.

In 2004, voters in the transportation benefit area boundaries approved a 0.3 percent sales tax, which is up for vote again in 2008.

The excluded areas will not participate in future votes, and businesses there will not have to pay the sales tax.

French said the voting histories of the areas did not play into his decision.

“I’ve never looked at it from the standpoint of if they were pro or con voters,” he said. “I’ve looked from the standpoint that if they’re not getting the service, they shouldn’t pay the tax.”

The Public Transportation Improvement Conference convenes every three years to determine the boundaries of the Public Transportation Benefit Area. The conference members are comprised of various elected officials from the cities and municipalities within the current PTBA.