Letter: Toyota Center remodel needs Tri-City effort

As a resident of Kennewick, therefore “part owner” of the Toyota Center, I was disappointed to see the Tri-City Herald’s desire to remodel that facility (Dec. 31, 2017) when the ultimate financial liability for the facility continues to fall on the residents of Kennewick.

I would be very interested to see the Herald suggestions and/or recommendations for funding this remodel.

I assume that all other options were pursued in the past with no result, so it seems that this would still have to come from either increased taxes or fees to us. Although a sales tax was proposed as an answer recently, this applies mainly to Kennewick residents.

Pasco and Richland residents tend to buy their groceries, purchase their cars, eat in restaurants, etc. in their own communities. And although we have many Oregon shoppers, they continue to receive an exemption from our sales tax.

As for the recent election, I saw many postings on Facebook and voices in the media, campaigning for this proposal who do not even live in the city of Kennewick. The headline I would love to see most is “Tri-Cities Area Works Together to Fund Area Improvements.” Imagine the grand things we could do.

This story was originally published January 10, 2018 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Letter: Toyota Center remodel needs Tri-City effort."