Logistics, timing doom ‘Grand Bargain’

Voters in Kennewick, Pasco and Richland could collectively vote on a single ballot measure authorizing regional amenities in each city.

But it’s highly unlikely the so-called “Grand Bargain” will appear on the ballot this year, next or even in the next five to six years, city leaders told the Herald on Wednesday.

The Grand Bargain concept is being touted by some in the community as a way to win support from voters in all three cities to raise the sales tax on the promise each town would get a new project.

In its current iteration, the Grand Bargain would offer Kennewick a Broadway-style performance stage at the Three Rivers Convention Center, Pasco an aquatic center and maybe a Richland public market.

The primary issue is timing.

Kennewick has a well-developed plan to build a 100,000-square-foot theater-type building between the convention center and Toyota Center that could quickly be made ready for voters. It’s separate from the Port of Kennewick’s proposal for a performing arts venue at nearby Vista Field.

Pasco plans to review the latest version of its aquatic center dream in February.

And Richland, though under considerable pressure to lend financial support a Tri-Cities Public Market, has no plans to advance any public facility beyond the Reach center, which opened in 2014 in Columbia Park, the officials told the Herald’s editorial board Wednesday.

The three cities are simply too far apart to think about a consolidated campaign, the group said.

“We’re not on the same page right now,” Pasco Mayor Matt Watkins said.

The debate is critical because it underscores the area’s relationship with its public facilities districts.

The Washington Legislature authorized cities and counties to create facilities districts and granted them authority to levy up to two-tenths of a percent sales tax — that’s 2 cents on a $10 purchase — to support regional amenities.

Four of the state’s 25 districts are here, one for Richland, Pasco and Kennewick and a regional district.

The Kennewick and regional districts have asked voters to approve a sales tax increase to support projects. Voters said “no” to both.

That begs the question: Should the Tri-Cities have individual districts or a regional one or both?

Kennewick and Pasco’s mayors and Richland’s mayor pro tem, as well as the Richland, Pasco and Kennewick city managers, told the editorial board that they discuss regional facilities on a regular basis but no decisions have been made.

However, it appears they’re more likely to propose their own projects using their own public facilities districts than to wait for all three to be at the same stage of planning and to consolidate them under a single regional vote.

That said, they agreed the Tri-Cities Regional Public Facilities District — the only one of its kind in the state — should not disband.

The regional district is a critical piece of civic infrastructure that could possibly play a role in the future and is just another tool that could help the region create the amenities it wants for citizens and for economic development, they said.

It’s been 10 years since the Legislature created the public facilities district taxing option and officials said the area’s retail taxbase has grown substantially. That makes it more possible for each city, in theory, to build a regional-scale facility, reducing the need for all three to join forces to pay for one large project.

However, City Manager Marie Mosley said whether the projects come from separate facilities districts or the regional one there’s an opportunity to promote them together. “We market this together when everyone is ready,” she said.

“We know the community needs these projects. How do we make it happen?” asked Kennewick Mayor Steve Young.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Logistics, timing doom ‘Grand Bargain’."