Haler ‘fix’ would have cut voters out of sales tax decisions

A bill that would have stripped away the power of voters to OK or reject sales tax increases for things like a performing arts or convention centers is being rewritten.

Just two days after the start of the 2018 Legislature, Rep. Larry Haler was already retooling his bill intended to make it easier for regional public facilities districts to develop projects.

Tri-City officials complained that Haler didn’t tell them about the proposal and said they oppose the move to bypass voters.

The Richland Republican introduced House Bill 2251 at the request of a former Kennewick mayor, Vic Epperly, who is frustrated that the Tri-City Regional Public Facilities District has failed to advance a project in the seven years since it formed.

Haler said he disagreed with Epperly on waiving the sales tax requirement, but sponsored the bill on behalf of a constituent. Epperly was Kennewick’s mayor from 1986-87.

After a hearing last week, the House Local Government Committee reportedly killed the no-local-vote element after Kennewick, Richland and Pasco sent lobbyists to testify about their concerns.

Later, the mayors of the three cities told the Herald that Haler did not contact them about the bill.

The proposal would replace elected leaders on regional PFD boards with appointees, give them the authority to seek public advisory votes on prioritizing projects and raise sales taxes without a public vote.

Haler said he advised Epperly the bill stood little chance of surviving intact.

“I told him right at the beginning, ‘You may end up with a camel that looks like a dachshund,’” Haler said.

During a hearing in Olympia last week, Epperly told lawmakers he proposed the new rules after attending a meeting of the Tri-City Regional Public Facilities District last July.

The Tri-City PFD board voted to meet less frequently, to pay bills and to extend its members’ terms.

“There was absolutely nothing to do with their mission whatsoever,” Epperly said. “I am fed up with this PFD having been in existence since 2010 and having done nothing.”

Haler said his bill is being combined with a related bill to allow Pasco to develop an aquatics center through its own public facilities district.

Haler said the amended bill reserves the final say on raising sales tax rates to voters. The amendments are not yet available for public review. However, HB 2251 is scheduled for a second committee hearing on Thursday.

PFDs and the Tri-Cities

Tri-City voters have not embraced public facilities district projects.

Washington law allows cities and counties to create local and regional districts to develop community facilities.

The PFDs, as they’re called, can develop facilities with bonds backed by voter-approved sales tax increases. PFDs can ask voters to raise the sales tax by up to two-tenths of a percent, or 2 cents on a $10 purchase.

Four PFD proposals have gone on local ballots in recent years. All failed.

In 2013, the regional PFD asked area voters for a modest sales tax hike to build an aquatics center in Pasco. The measure failed because Kennewick and Richland voted it down while Pasco voters supported it.

The Kennewick Public Facilities District has asked its voters to expand and upgrade the Three Rivers Convention complex. The project, called The Link, would have expanded and modernized the complex by expanding the convention center, renovating the Toyota Center, adding a 2,300-seat “Broadway-style” theater and adding a new ice rink.

It failed all three times, most recently with 55 percent opposed.

In Olympia, Haler testified that a stronger regional PFD system might have prevented Kennewick from pushing The Link, describing it as “basically nothing more than kind of a playground for the uber wealthy in our community to have built for them rather than using their own money.”

Tri-City mayors respond

Kennewick Mayor Don Britain was startled by Haler’s “playground” comment.

“I’m disappointed Rep. Haler would file a bill based solely on one person’s views,” he said.

Richland Mayor Bob Thompson acknowledged the frustration that drove Haler and Epperly to propose an overhaul. But the bill eliminates tools that communities need to do good projects.

He said Haler did not consult with Richland either.

“The concern we have, beyond not being consulted, (is) it takes another arrow out of the quiver,” Thompson said.

Pasco Mayor Matt Watkins too acknowledged Epperly’s frustration over the regional PFD, but defended the glacial pace of progress. The regional district is deliberately choosing to be inactive while Kennewick and Pasco work on their own projects.

It shouldn’t be easy to advance multimillion-dollar public projects, he said.

“To get everybody on the same page is a heavy lift,” Watkins said. “It should be a heavy lift.”

Pasco is pushing a separate bill that would allow its local PFD to develop an aquatics center. Last year, the House passed HB 1321 but not the Senate. It was reintroduced this year.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Haler ‘fix’ would have cut voters out of sales tax decisions."