The Municipal League of King County

Supports

 City of Auburn Proposition 1—Save Our Streets

November 2, 2004 General Election Ballot

 Summary

 Citizens of the City of Auburn are being asked to approve a six-year property tax levy lid lift, with the proceeds to be dedicated to a local street fund.  The City’s funding for local street maintenance and repairs has declined significantly in the past five years.  As a result of various tax cutting initiatives, the City lost its motor vehicle excise tax, its $15 license tab fee and had its property tax growth rate limited to 1% a year.  Those tax cuts have reduced the revenues available for local streets from $1 million in 1999 to $150,000 in 2004. 

 The City’s current levy rate is $2.88 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or about $500 per year for a typical $175,000 Auburn home.  The proposal would fix that $2.88 rate for 2005 and then allow it to decline for five years at a slower rate than it would otherwise.  The rate is estimated to be $2.76 in 2010 if the measure is approved.  The additional funds collected would be used to create a dedicated Local Street Fund.  This Fund would be used for:

·        Repair, repaving and maintenance of deteriorating local streets;

·        Improvement of street crossings and walking routes near schools and public facilities;

·        Improvement of traffic flow including new traffic signals, four-way stops and neighborhood speed control.

 Proposition 1 would produce about $500,000 for Auburn streets the first year and up to $2 million in the sixth.

ARGUMENTS FOR THE MEASURE

 The City of Auburn made the following arguments in support of the measure on its website and in the press: 

·        The Save Our Streets measure proposes to do exactly what citizens often say they want:  it asks voters before raising taxes and it tells them exactly what the money would be used for.

·        The additional funds are needed to maintain basic infrastructure because city revenues have been severely reduced by various tax-cutting initiatives.

·        The property tax rate is not actually being increased; it is merely being held steady while property values rise, thus allowing revenues to increase for a limited period of time.

·        Auburn is an older city with aging streets and has been putting off street maintenance for many years; without new revenues the condition will continue to deteriorate.

·        The added funding would make a significant difference in addressing the maintenance backlog and improving the safety of city streets.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE MEASURE

 The Ballot Issues Committee was not able to identify an organized opposition to the measure, but developed the following arguments: 

·        City street maintenance is a basic function of city government and should be paid for out of general revenues.

·        Washington taxes are already high and citizens are constantly being asked to raise them for education and many other purposes.

·        Raising the property tax will increase the burden on home owners and businesses and contribute to the housing affordability problem in the region. 

POSITION and RATIONALE

 The Municipal League Trustees support Auburn’s Proposition 1. 

 We believe Proposition 1 is a responsible means of addressing an important problem for the City of Auburn.  It addresses head on the serious problem local governments are facing of reduced revenues which allow for fewer services to be paid for out of the general fund.  While it is regrettable that Auburn, like so many other jurisdictions, has not kept up with transportation maintenance needs over the years, the city has tried to deal with the twin problems of declining revenues and increasing needs in a responsible fashion.   we urge the citizens of Auburn to support Proposition 1.