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Spokane.net »
Sudoku
 | Thursday, November 8, 2001 |
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Spokane Raising money may become more difficult Oliver Staley Initiative 747 will have no immediate impact on the city of Spokane's budget, but it could affect the city's ability to raise money in years to come. In Mayor John Powers' 2002 budget, which he presented to the City Council on Monday, there is no property tax increase. A number of council members, however, have suggested a 1 percent increase may be warranted. Every 1 percent increase in property taxes translates into about $300,000, said city budget director Col Prior to the passage of I-747, the city was limited to a 6 percent increase, which translates into $1.8 million. That means the city has lost the potential to raise $1.5 million, Greenwood said. "It has a tremendous future potential as far as impacting the city's ability to provide even basic services," Greenwood said. City administrator Jack Lynch said I-747 means the city will be less able to recover in case it loses other revenue sources. He note that property tax increases helped fill the budget gap created by I-695, which eliminated the motor vehicle excise tax. "If you can only do 1 percent, it's not enough in most cases to offset any revenue losses from other sources," Lynch said. "You can't do you own backfilling." Spokane County government also will not feel the impact of the initiative in 2002, said Marshall Farnell, the county's budget analyst. "We assumed it was going to pass, so we budgeted a zero percent increase for next year," Farnell said. "We assumed the worst and prepared for it, and the worst happened."
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