Granite Falls to hike vehicle license fees by $20

GRANITE FALLS — People who live within city limits will pay $20 more to renew their car tabs starting in 2016.

The Granite Falls Transportation Benefit District met Wednesday for the first time and voted 4-0 to enact the new fee.

The five-person Granite Falls City Council created the benefit district in April and acts as the board of directors. Board member Tom FitzGerald was not at Wednesday’s meeting.

During a public hearing, two people spoke against the new fee. The city also received several letters before the meeting.

People told the board they and their neighbors didn’t have enough notice to learn about transportation benefit districts and address the new fee. With an increasing cost of living, another fee can be crippling, especially if people have more than one car to buy tabs for each year, they said.

The fee applies to most vehicles, including passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles and motor homes. It does not apply to: farm vehicles, campers, off-road vehicles, commercial trailers, government and school vehicles or vehicles registered to disabled American veterans. Starting Jan. 1, the $20 is due when new tabs are purchased from the state Department of Licensing.

Twenty dollars might not seem like much, but it’s a lot to some families, said Rebecca Duncan, who spoke during the hearing. She asked the board to consider phasing in the new cost, with a $5 fee at first, then $10, $15 and eventually $20. People would be able to adjust to it that way, she said.

“I’m all for doing my share, but you’re reaching for gold before you even got bronze,” she said.

Board members thanked people for speaking at the meeting. They’d like to see folks at other meetings, they said. People rarely talk to the City Council or tune in to city business until they have something to be angry about.

Though the vote was unanimous, the licensing fee wasn’t an easy choice to make, board members said. Without new revenue the city’s unbalanced street fund would burn through its reserve money in a matter of years, they said.

The city gets about $68,000 a year in gas taxes for street maintenance and construction. The street fund needs $120,000 to keep up with staff and materials costs for basic roadwork, city administrator and public works director Brent Kirk said. The city has been redirecting 15 percent of property tax dollars from the general fund to the street fund. In 2014, they pulled nearly $36,000 from the general fund to nudge the street fund over $100,000.

Kirk estimates the tab fee will provide about $60,000 a year. That bridges the budget gap for basic maintenance and could provide matching dollars to win grants for large projects.

The district board on Wednesday also approved a list of potential projects. Money from tab fees only can be used for maintenance or approved projects. The list looks ahead to 2020, with suggestions for new road extensions, signals and sidewalks.

The state Department of Licensing lists 45 other cities with $20 tab fees, including Everett and Lynnwood. Everett’s fee was approved last year and took effect in March. A transportation benefit district must have voter approval to enact a fee higher than $20, such as Seattle’s $80 licensing fee. They also can ask voters to approve a sales tax increase rather than a fee.

At least 22 cities in the state have transportation benefit districts that collect revenue through sales taxes or have not yet passed any funding measures. Arlington, Marysville, Stanwood and Snohomish have districts funded by sales tax. Snohomish County and Monroe have benefit districts in place but no taxes or fees.

Granite Falls doesn’t have enough of a commercial base to make a sales tax increase a good option, board members said. If the tab fee goes lower than $20, they predict the street fund would continue to dwindle.

Benefit district board meetings are open to the public and agendas will be posted under the “Documents” section of the city’s website, www.ci.granite-falls.wa.us. More information also is available at Granite Falls City Hall, 206 S Granite Ave.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.