Getting There: Spokane Valley creates transportation benefit district, a likely precursor to new taxes

According to city staff, Spokane Valley has objectively good roads.

The vast majority of city streets rank as excellent, good or fair, based on standard asphalt condition metrics. Spokane Valley City Council members love to talk about how their streets put Spokane’s to shame.

But for years, city staff have said the $8 million Spokane Valley spends on maintenance and preservation annually isn’t nearly enough to keep its roads in good shape going forward. If the city wants high quality roads in the future, it will have to double its spending.

“The bare minimum, in our opinion, would be to fund this program to the $16 million need,” Spokane Valley City Manager John Hohman told council members. “I don’t think those numbers are in question, we have studied those and restudied those.”

Now, the Spokane Valley City Council appears to be on the cusp of adopting a tax or fee to generate millions of dollars of new revenue for road work.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted 6-1 to create a transportation benefit district. Councilwoman Laura Padden cast the lone “nay” vote.

Having a transportation benefit district will allow the City Council to implement a sales tax or a fee on license plate tabs, the small stickers people receive every year when they pay to renew their vehicle registration.

How much money the transportation benefit district will bring in remains to be seen. The City Council will likely discuss its taxation strategy in the near future.

The City Council, to some extent, can impose new taxes or fees without voter approval.

But if council members want to generate the maximum amount of money possible, they will have to receive direct approval from voters through a ballot measure.

State law allows the City Council to impose a fee on license plate tabs up to $50 without voter approval. Voters can authorize a fee up to $100.

Many cities throughout the state, including Spokane, have $20 vehicle license fees. A $20 vehicle license fee would bring the Valley about $2.8 million a year.

State law also allows city councils to implement sales taxes to fund road work. The Spokane Valley has the option of implementing a 0.1% sales tax without voter approval. Voters can approve a tax of up to 0.3%. Many Washington cities with transportation benefit districts have either 0.1% or 0.2% sales taxes for road preservation and maintenance.

A 0.1% sales tax in the Valley would bring in about $3.8 million annually.

Padden, who voted against forming a transportation benefit district, said she doesn’t believe it’s appropriate for the City Council to be raising taxes. These are tough economic times for Spokane Valley residents, she said.

“The only purpose of a TBD is to take money from people and give it to government,” Padden said.

Other council members said they believe a new tax or fee is needed to ensure Spokane Valley’s roads don’t fall into disrepair.

City Councilman Arne Woodard said he likes the idea of a sales tax. About 48% of Spokane Valley’s sales tax revenues come from consumers who don’t live in the city, he noted. That means Valley residents don’t have to bear the financial burden entirely on their own, he said.

“I’ll take that kind of action any day of the week,” Woodard said.

Councilman Tim Hattenburg said he believes it’s essential to increase road preservation and road maintenance spending to ensure the Valley’s roads don’t deteriorate. The fiscally responsible move, he said, is to repair the city’s roads before they fall apart.

“The vast, vast majority of people I talk to are willing to pay,” Hattenburg said.