Town's transport district includes tax

The La Conner Town Council has paved the way for smoother rides around town.

The panel during one of several public hearings at its Nov. 14 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall unanimously approved formation of a transportation benefit district to generate revenue for maintenance of streets, sidewalks and crosswalks.

The council, by state law, serves as commissioners of the district, which operates as a separate entity.

The next move, said Town Administrator Scott Thomas, is to decide how the revenue will be raised.

A one-tenth of one per cent increase in the local sales tax is one option. That revenue is a great deal tourist-based from those driving here –causing wear and tear on town streets – to shop in town.

A three-tenths of one per cent sales tax hike will require approval of town voters, Thomas said.

Increasing vehicle registration fees is an option.

The smaller sales tax route was favored last week.

“In that case,” noted Mayor Ramon Hayes, “people coming in from out of town would be paying for it rather than (townspeople) getting a bill in their post office box.”

Hayes estimated a one-tenth one per cent bump in the sales tax would raise between $40,000 and $65,000 annually. He added that the town streets budget has been stressed.

“Streets began the year in a deficit,” Hayes said.

Thomas said additional sidewalks are needed, among other multimodal transportation priorities.

“We have projects,” Thomas lamented, “that are planned but not funded.”

Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain spoke in favor of establishing the funding district.

“I think it’s very prudent for us to make this happen,” she said.

Resident Ken Stern was the sole speaker at the public hearing for the Town’s 2024 budget. He suggested it would likewise be prudent for the council to commit $10,000 in support of La Conner Swinomish Library, akin to previous and this year’s allocation made to the school district’s Braves Club.

“The Town hasn’t put a dollar into the library,” Stern said. “I hope the Town can find money for the library like it did for the Braves Club. Ten thousand dollars for the library would be a nice starting point.

“I hope you will consider this between now and Dec. 12 when you adopt the budget,” he said. “We’re about to have $7 million in revenue. I hope the Town can find $10,000 for the library.”

Hayes agreed with Stern.

“It’s important that the library be funded,” said Hayes. “Perhaps we could center our funding around programs. My recommendation is that they (library officials) go after the hotel/motel (tax revenue) pot with programs that can be tied to tourism.”

Director of Planning Michael Davolio reminded the audience that the Town has designated the library as an essential public facility which should help it obtain grants-in-aid.

The Town’s utility rates ordinance is set to expire at the end of the year, Thomas noted in other money matters.

“We have some big projects coming up over the next several years,” he told council. “We need to figure out how to pay for these.”

Thomas said the utility rates question must be dealt with in December.

“We’ll have a robust discussion on this at our next meeting,” Hayes vowed, adding that “the reality of it is we live in a boutique community. We only have so many people to pay the bills. The approach has always been to do this gradually to avoid any shock.”

He was not shocked, but Councilmember Ivan Carlson expressed disdain with Hayes’ budget cover letter that describes the half-acre Maple Field open space – the area preserved for public use from the former two-acre Hedlin’s Ball Field venue, now the 10 house Landed Gentry’s Maple Field – as a new park.

“It’s insulting to say we’ve added Maple Field as a park,” said Carlson. “We haven’t added anything, we’ve actually lost.”

Chamberlain responded that the Town owns Maple Field while Hedlin’s Ball Field was leased for local youth sports programs.

Hayes said the council during the COVID-19 pandemic “stuck its neck out” to purchase the property and retain a portion of it for public access.

Otherwise, contended Hayes, “the entire property would’ve been developed.”

Carlson said “funding was out there” for the ball field site to have been purchased and preserved entirely for use by the community’s youth.

Hayes and Councilmembers Rick Dole and Mary Wohleb said a “thoughtful process” was undertaken for the property, offered to the Town at a reduced rate and that Town officials would have supported a purchase and full retention plan had one been presented within what they termed as a tight transaction timeline.

Council also:

* Unanimously approved a 20-year (2024-44) Transportation Improvement Plan identifying 13 repair and upgrade projects estimated to cost just under $5 million, prioritizing South First Street (from Commercial to Caledonia streets), First Street from Morris to Commercial streets, and Morris Street. “The majority of these projects,” Public Works Director Brian Lease said, “have been on the books for 15 years.”

* Approved an interagency agreement with the Washington State Department of Commerce for a planning and predevelopment grant for future installation of a solar power storage system at the fire hall. “This,” said Wohleb, “has been a long time coming.”