STA board sends tax measure to ballot to fund Central City Line, transit centers

Voters will decide this April whether to increase taxes to fund a 10-year plan that would extend hours and expand service to new areas, as well as fund a trolley-like fixed route between Browne’s Addition and Spokane Community College. Transit officials discussed the matter for hours this afternoon, and the eventual 6-3 split among STA board members wasn’t clear until Chairwoman Amber Waldref called for the vote and hands were raised. Board members Shelly O’Quinn, Chuck Hafner and Ed Pace voted against sending the issue to voters, which will ask to increase sales tax by 0.3 percent. Currently, STA receives most of its funding from a voter-approved sales tax of 0.6 percent. The new funding is expected to generate $300 million over 10 years and allows the transit agency to begin implementing its long-range plan. To the end, O’Quinn, a county commissioner, argued against the measure, continually calling it “unsustainable.” “We’re not in dire straits at this moment,” she said when it was noted that the agency would reach its “reserve line” in 2017. If voters approve the measure, the agency will be in fine fiscal shape at least through 2025. “We’re in a good place. Momentum is on our side,” she said.”I think transit is very important. I do believe it’s a priority.”