Washington's proposed transportation package could be bad news for Lewis and other rural counties, according to the Lewis County Commission.
Commissioner Bill Schulte on Wednesday expressed his concerns following a meeting of the House Transportation Committee in Olympia.
The state's proposed packages — which could raise between $5 billion and $6.5 billion, depending on which plan is chosen — would increase the cost of operating a car through increased sales tax on gasoline and increased payment for license plates.
"This is another attempt for the state to spread the cost of the ferries across the state," Schulte, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander, said about the Puget Sound ferry system that has a proposed total budget of $726 million in the 2013-15 biennium.
It's also an attempt, apparently, to spread the cost of buses. Out of every dollar used to run a bus in King County, 6 cents comes from bus fare while 94 percent comes from sales tax or grants.
The taxation is particularly unfair to Lewis and other rural counties where citizens are dependent on private vehicle transportation, according to Schulte, a Republican who lives in Dryad, a 15-mile drive from his office at the Lewis County Courthouse.
"I don't know how many people (in Lewis County) live close enough to a courthouse to take a bus to work, but the vast majority drive distances," he said. "If you're in Seattle it's easy to get on a bus…. But here in Lewis County, everyone commutes long distances."
The county commissioner, who was recently elected chairman of the three-person commission, said he asked state representatives why they were unfairly burdening the citizens.
"We have the highest gas tax in the country, why do we need an increase? Why can other states do it and we can't?" Schulte said he asked.
"It's a social program," he said. "It's not a transportation program."
The Washington State Department of Transportation currently manages the largest construction program in state history. Of 421 projects funded by the 2003 and 2005 gas taxes, 340 projects — valued at $5.4 billion — were completed by October 2012. Twenty-nine projects — valued at $9.6 billion — are now under construction, and five projects — valued at $37 million — are expected to go to advertisement by April.
Forty-seven additional projects remain on the horizon.
