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Daily Record, Editorial, Ellensburg, WA., 12/01/00
Daily Record, December 1, 2000.
IN OUR OPINION
It may not be a small town world
It may become increasingly difficult to be Cle Elum, Kittitas, Roslyn or South
Cle Elum in the 21st Century.
Without changes in the way state funds are distributed, or an increased capacity
of small communities to generate revenue it will be hard for these communities
to survive financially in the long run.
Initiative 695 was supposedly aimed at big state government, but hit the small
towns hardest as a source of state funding through the motor vehicle excise
tax was eliminated and not replaced with a permanent source of funding, That
initiative also contained provisions that all tax and fee increases be
approved by the voters. That sounded nice, but in practice would be near crippling
for a small town that has to automatically increase its water rates to pay off
a longstanding debt.
The court ruled I-695 unconstitutional, but it was followed by I-722 which
annulled any tax increases adopted after I-695 and rolled back property taxes
to 1999 levels.
Again, all this was done without any consideration of the impact on small
towns. State government may take hits and possibly retract services, which may
be the goal of the initiative-writers, but most small towns have no room for
cuts. Revenue reductions can cripple a town.
It's time for state political leaders to act like leaders, decide if small
towns are desired, and how they can be supported or given the power to survive.
Small towns in Kittitas County are adapting to the new financial realities.
The city of Kittitas cut costs by disbanding its police department and contracting
with the Kittitas County sheriff.
Cle Elum, Roslyn and South Cle Elum have combined resources to fund one police
department for the three communities. Even with that consolidation, police is
still a major expense, At the last Cle Elum City Council meeting, Mayor Gary
Berndt mentioned that in a few years if costs keep rising, the city will have
to again look at how it can afford to maintain a police department.
The state Department of Ecology actually cracks down on small towns to comply
with clean water and sewage treatment standards because big cities like Seattle
have the clout to stall them at the state level.
People will argue that towns survive by building their tax base through attracting
businesses. Residential growth, on its own, does little to increase revenues
retained by the town.
If you look back 10 years ago, you could say the state Growth Management Act
envisioned the needs of small towns by trying to funnel growth into existing
incorporated communities.
It may be working elsewhere, but in Kittitas County, the largest proposed
project and potential revenue generator is the MountainStar Resort which will
be built in unincorporated Kittitas County.
By requiring small towns to expand and incorporate new business and industrial
parks, the argument could be made that the towns are being forced to no longer
be "small" towns.
The troubling thing is there has been little thought given to small towns.
There's no "save our small town" statewide initiative. No one seriously believes
the state will allow towns to retain a higher percentage of certain taxes, such
as sales, property and real estate excise taxes.
We're apparently content with "feel good" -Who wouldn't vote to lower their
own taxes? - initiatives aimed at throwing a haymaker at the state but instead
missing the mark and knocking out the small town. We're blundering our way to
small town oblivion.
We're reaching the point where the question will be whether small towns have
any value in Washington state. We know the answer is an emphatic, yes, the question
will be whether anyone will listen.
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