Wenatchee City Council Asking Voters to Approve Tax Hike to Repair Roads

The Wenatchee City Council has approved a resolution to place a street improvement tax request before voters this summer.

The request is for a 0.2% increase in the local sales tax to fund a Transportation Improvement Program directed to costly maintenance and repairs for roads, sidewalks and capital projects.  It is anticipated the sales tax would generate about $4 million annually, according to Laura Gloria, City Administrator for Wenatchee.

Mayor Poirier believes the sales tax request is the best way to spread the tax burden and avoid significantly higher repair costs if maintenance is deferred

"This is about $40 per household versus if you did it a different way, for instance through property taxes that would be about $400   And everybody uses the roads so people visiting from Seattle or Spokane are also helping pay through sales tax to help contribute to that.  Otherwise, this is going to be a fortune if we wait five or seven more years we are going to be in trouble and it's going to cost ten times more for the roads (repairs)"

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The tax request will be on the primary election ballot on August 5th.

If voters approve, the tax would be in effect for ten years.