Sales-tax hike for streets? Friday Harbor voters will decide

While the fate of the ballot measure rests solely in the hands of the town’s 1,354 registered voters, the increase would apply to anyone that, for lack of a better term, shops in Friday Harbor, visitors and islanders alike. That’s part of the equity of the proposal, billed on the ballot as Town Proposition No. 1, according to town officials.

For the second time in two years, Friday Harbor voters are being asked whether to help pay for public services via an uptick in the town sales tax.

They joined their county counterparts two years ago in approving a public safety sales tax, which raised the percent of sales-tax rate across the county from 7.8 percent to 8.1.

This time, however, the would-be increase, at .02 percent (increasing the rate in town to 8.3 percent), is all about streets, sidewalks and storm drains, walking paths and bicycle lanes. The new revenue would be dedicated for a select-list of transportation improvements that reside exclusively within the town and are cataloged on the town six-year transportation improvement plan.

While the fate of the ballot measure rests solely in the hands of the town’s 1,354 registered voters, the increase would apply to anyone that, for lack of a better term, shops in Friday Harbor, visitors and islanders alike. That’s part of the equity of the proposal, billed on the ballot as Town Proposition No. 1, according to town officials.Blair Ave

“It’s a way to spread out the cost of taking care of the town’s roads,” Mayor Carrie Lacher said of the sale-tax proposal. “It brings in a broader range of people to help support our streets, so that burden isn’t just carried by town residents. I think it’s a smart idea.”

The streets of Friday Harbor are well-traveled by just about everyone who visits San Juan Island and by most island residents as well. It seems fair, Lacher said, that those who rely on those streets ought to also chip in to help pay for their maintenance, repair and improvement.

Without an infusion of new funding, Town Administrator Duncan Wilson said the town would be hard-pressed to pay for the annual upkeep of its streets and for a long list of much-needed repairs or major improvements. If approved, the tax hike is expected to generate about $240,000 a year.

While that sum won’t cover the cost of a major improvement project by itself, like the one under way on Blair Street or a retrofit of Tucker Avenue (No. 2 on the six-year improvement plan), Wilson said it is well-suited as leverage for loans, grants or the local match typically required by the state, at 10 percent, for grants or its share of spending on local road projects.

This year, the town tapped three sources of revenue to set aside roughly $617,000 for road repair, preservation and improvement. By policy, 25 percent of town property tax goes to roads, as does its share of state Capron funds ($113,000 in ‘14) and a percentage of its share of the public safety tax ($125,00 in ‘14).

The sales-tax proposal was placed on the ballot by the town’s newly created Transportation Benefit District, the formation of which Wilson helped the town council create by borrowing page out of the playbook from his previous position in North Bend. A state-sanctioned public entity unto itself, the town TBD must adhere to a strict set of guidelines afforded to it by the state, one of which demands that money raised by a sales-tax hike can be used only for those projects on the roster of the town’s six-year TIP.

“The money is watched and audited separately by the state,” he said, “and they’re restricted funds that can only be used for what’s on the list.”

That list tops $10 million, to date, and trailing behind Tucker, are would-be improvements to Nash and Marguerite streets. Under state law, the tax increase would expire after 10 years, unless renewed by voters.

Find the six-year TIP and list of projects on the town website, www.fridayharbor.org.