Chamber Endorses City of Tacoma Roads Package (Prop. 3 & 4)

On August 27th, the Chamber Board of Directors voted to endorse Tacoma City Council's Propositions 3 and 4.  

The text of the resolution is below:

SUBJECT:    TACOMA PROPOSITION 3: Concerning a property tax levy rate increase and utility gross earnings tax increase to fund street improvements

                        AND

TACOMA TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DISTRICT PROPOSITION 4: Concerning the imposition of a sales tax to fund street improvements

POLICY:       YES ON BOTH PROPOSITIONS 3 & 4

BACKGROUND: In 2013, the City of Tacoma placed a proposition to the voters to add an additional 2% to the existing utility gross earnings tax in order to fund street improvements.  The Chamber opposed the measure on several grounds.  Some of these included concerns about prioritization of existing dollars, task force/commission processes, and expecting a handful of businesses to pay the bulk of the taxes despite most of the improvements going towards residential roads.  A majority of voters agreed with the Chamber that this was not an appropriate tax.

Since 2013, the Chamber has worked with community stakeholders, including electeds and staff at the City of Tacoma, to evaluate alternative funding and improvement plans.  While no tax is an ideal scenario, the proposed package successful spreads the tax burden to all parties and users throughout the area while setting a 10-year sunset on the entire package.  The two propositions combine for $175M in new revenue.  When added to new matching funds from the general fund, existing street funding revenues and new grant matches, the total package is $425M.

City Funding Source	10 Year Revenues
New Sales Tax (+0.1%) (Prop 4)	$45 M
New Utility Gross Earnings Tax (+1.5%) (Prop 3)	$90 M
New Levy Lid Lift (+$0.2 per $1,000AV) (Prop 3)	$40 M
New Additional General Fund Support (Council Budget)	$30 M
Existing Revenues ($20 Tab, 2% UGET)	$100 M
City Funding	$305 M
Grant Matching Funds	$120 M
TOTAL FUNDING	$425 M

This funding would then be spent on residential streets (67%), arterials & freight access (18%), and walking and biking infrastructure (15%).  This work would pave 167 blocks of gravel streets, resurface 2,100 blocks of failed and poor streets, and provide sufficient maintenance for all excellent, good, and fair residential streets, totaling another 4,211 blocks. In addition it would provide funding for key freight mobility connection in the Port of Tacoma and multimodal facilities like an improved Schuster Parkway and Prairie Line Trail.

The residents of Tacoma have consistently ranked the condition of the streets as a number one priority, but despite several options on the ballot, have to choose to increase taxes to pay for the street repairs.  It is unclear the level of support these measures will need to be successful at the ballot box.

While the Chamber supports these proposals to improve streets throughout Tacoma, we will continue to encourage the City to look for additional efficiencies in general operations.  With an annual general fund budget of $200M, saving just 1% would allow an additional $20M to be spent on roads over 10-years.  To this end, we hope that this City will continue to focus on job creation in the private sector by hiring private contractors to complete the work rather than increasing internal staff.

IMPLEMENTATION:  With approval of a policy, the Chamber will utilize is communications tools for advocacy.

Volunteers for Voter's Pamphlet Statements

The City Clerk's Office is seeking volunteers to serve on committees to prepare statements "for" and "against" the following measures in order to comply with the requirements for RCW 29A.32.280:

City of Tacoma Initiative Measure No. 1B
Initiative Measure No. 1B is an alternative the City Council has proposed to the Citizen Petition Initiative No. 1 regarding minimum wage in the City of Tacoma.

Citizen Petition Initiative Measure No. 2
Initiative Measure No. 2 is an amendment to the City Charter relating to a change in the form of government and other organization changes.

City of Tacoma Proposition No. 3
Proposition No. 3 is a property tax levy rate and gross earnings tax increase for street improvements.

Governing Board of the Tacoma Transportation Benefit District Proposition No. 4
Proposition No. 4 imposes a sales and use tax to fund street improvements.

Each of the measures will be on the General Election ballot of Tuesday, November 3, 2015. The statements prepared by these committees will appear in the Voters' Pamphlet. Statements are due on or before August 7, 2015 and rebuttal statements are due August 11, 2015.

To be considered, please submit a letter of interest indicating whether you are advocating "for" or "against" one of the measures, which measure(s) you would like to be considered for, your place of residence and why you would like to serve on a committee.

Letters must be received in the City Clerk's Office at 733 Market Street, Room 11, Tacoma WA 98402 or via email to cityclerk@cityoftacoma.org by 5 PM on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.

For more information, or to read the petition language, ballot titles, and resolutions transmitting the measures to the Pierce County Auditor, please go to www.cityoftacoma.org/cityclerk.

Auto Dealers Seek to Cleanup Tacoma’s ‘Lost Highway’

Today Mary Byrne, General Manager of Tacoma’s Bruce Titus and the first woman President of the Washington State Auto Dealers Association, presented to the Tacoma City Council Economic Development Committee, providing an overview of the economic impact Tacoma auto dealerships have on the community as well as how the City can work with dealers toward improving South Tacoma’s Auto Row, creating an improved shopping experience for car buyers.

Tacoma auto dealers, both new and used, make significant financial contributions to the City. In 2011 and 2012 alone, dealers paid just under $10.5 million in sales and B&O taxes, roughly 2.5% of the City’s biennium General Fund budget. Furthermore, Tacoma’s 19 new car dealers employ an average of 56 employees each (1,064 total employees in Tacoma) with an average salary of $49,500. This totals an annual payroll of over $2.7 million per new car dealer. Auto dealers also make substantial philanthropic donations to Tacoma’s community of over $500,000 each year.

Additionally, Byrne identified the following key issues facing Tacoma’s auto dealers: vehicles often parked on the sidewalk of South Tacoma Way; painting of the right-of-way; difficult sign code; illegal activities in the area; and the overall streetscape appearance of Tacoma’s Auto Row. Byrne noted that auto dealers seek to work with the City toward solving these issues and improving the area.

Byrne also suggested the difficulty in getting new car buyers to South Tacoma Way, or Tacoma’s ‘Lost Highway.’ South Tacoma Way has a long history serving Tacoma’s auto dealers. However, improved wayfinding signs that direct people to Tacoma’s Auto Row could be utilized to help promote Tacoma as a regional auto buying hub.

Lastly, Byrne described how comparative tax rates affect Tacoma auto dealers. For instance, Tacoma’s B&O tax make nearby cities, such as Fife and Puyallup, more attractive to conduct business. Similarly, sales tax increases, even at a minor three tenths of a percent, puts Tacoma auto dealers at an enormous competitive disadvantage to surrounding cities, such as Roy, and states, such as Oregon.

Auto dealers are an important part of Tacoma’s economic and community development, and provide Tacoma with jobs, revenue, and philanthropy that make Tacoma a better place to live, work, and play.