Regional legislators and some county commissioners gave a thumbs-down to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal for establishment of a regional taxing district that includes both Clallam and Jefferson counties to oversee the management and funding of state ferries.
While Jefferson County Commissioner John Austin said he thought the establishment of a ferry district “is a good idea that gives us control over our ferries, ” Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman said he is “not a big fan:” of the proposal, which will go before the state Legislature on Monday as it begins a 105-day regular session.
And all three representatives of the 24th District, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties as well as a portion of Gray’s Harbor County, were unconvinced of the value of the governor’s idea.
Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan said the establishment of the new agency “could send the ferry system into a holding pattern.”
Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval said the proposal’s flaw is that it passes the buck to local jurisdictions.
“This idea kicks the can down the road into the lap of local governments,” Sandoval said.
“If the state as a whole can’t come up with these monies how are small regional districts like ours supposed to come up with it?”
Gregoire presented the idea in a news conference in Olympia on Thursday, saying that her proposal would transform the state-run ferry system to one that transfers operational power — and some of the taxing burden — to the counties that use ferries.
“We can no longer bail. There’s nothing to bail from,” Gregoire said. “There’s no other alternatives. We cannot continue to run the largest ferry system in America without adequate funding to make it happen.”
Her proposed district would include all of Jefferson and Clallam counties, as well as all of San Juan, Island and Kitsap counties and portions of Snohomish, King, Skagit and Pierce counties, said Gregoire spokesman Scott Whiteaker.
No state ferry terminal
Clallam would be the only county included that has no state ferry terminal.
Chapman, while pointing out the lack of a ferry station in his county, also said he was skeptical about forming a new taxing district.
“I just think that’s going to be a difficult sell right now,” he said.
“We’ve worked really hard to keep the idea of the ferry system part of the state Department of Transportation system,” said Chapman, who chairs the executive council of the Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization, an advisory board to Transportation that drafts plans for a region that covers Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason counties.
Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, said he was following the lead of Transportation Committee Chairwoman Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, whose opposition also was immediate.
“I don’t think that creating another layer of government is a good idea,” Haugen said.
“Our state already has too many governmental agencies, and adding another to run the ferries isn’t the way to go.”
Haugen voiced a common objection to the proposal, that it contradicted the long-stated policy that the ferries are an integrated part of the state highway system.
Not a lot of sense
Steve Tharinger, a Sequim Democrat who is both a Clallam County commissioner and a legislator-elect, said “the idea doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.”
“Support for the ferry system needs to come out of the Transportation Department’s appropriations and not from a separate agency,” he said.
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, had not read Gregoire’s proposal, but said that the idea of a ferry authority could create a larger tax burden on smaller counties like Clallam and Jefferson.
“The ferry system needs managerial changes, and I think this idea will hurt our district,” he said.
The state would pitch in money to the proposed new state-local system at current levels that would be adjusted for inflation, Gregoire said. Currently, the operational budget alone is more than $90 million.
If approved, start in 2013
Gregoire said that the new agency would save taxpayers money and improve the way the state does business and serves the public.
If approved, it would not start implementation until 2013, Gregoire estimated.
Under her plan, some ferry district board members would be elected and other would be appointed.
How the residents would be taxed, Gregoire said, would be up to the regional authority.
Assistant Transportation Secretary David Moseley, who oversees Washington State Ferries, spoke with Jefferson and Island county leaders during a conference call Thursday afternoon.
“We have not had a stable financial situation for the ferry system since the loss of the motor vehicle excise tax,” he said, referring to Initiative 695, which voters approved in 1999 to limit the state tax.
“The governor has put this idea on the table for discussion,” Moseley said.
“If there are other ideas, she will be happy to listen to them.”
Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons said that a regional ferry authority should also include local transit agencies.
The boundary lines of the district would be drawn by the state Legislature, if it approves the idea.
Other details not determined are the number of board members, location of the agency and staffing, among other issues.
“This proposal makes sense because it gives control over the ferries to the people who use it most,” Whiteaker said.
“They will be able to participate in the decisions that affect them.”
Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said it’s going to be difficult to ask legislators from the counties where ferries are to vote on the possibility of a new tax on their constituents.
But Clibborn said that Gregoire’s plan may spur legislators to look for a permanent fix to the ferry funding problem.
“There’s a bit of reality in her proposal. We can’t continue to do business as usual,” Clibborn said.
Gregoire said she does not have a bill sponsor yet in either chamber.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
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