Woodin Avenue Landing. Photo courtesy: Historic Downtown Chelan.
Where does the city of Chelan go now, to afford citizen suggested road improvements, following voters’ defeat of funding for the city’s Transportation Benefit District.
Chelan Transportation Benefit District - Proposition No. 1 was rejected by 25 votes, 1,149 against to 1,124 in favor of a three-tenths of one percent increase in the sales tax that would have generated an estimated $900,000 a year for road projects.
One suggestion is better informing voters and placing the tax measure on a future ballot.
"Thirty cents on a hundred dollars, three dollars on a thousand dollars, to generate $900,000 from our guests, that's a no-brainer," said Councilman Bob Goedee on Wednesday. "I don't like taxes but I'll give up a cup of coffee every month if we can get $900,000 to fix some of this stuff."
The sales tax option within the city's Transportation Benefit District would cause tourists to pay a share of city road maintenance and improvements.
A recent citizens' survey of transportation priorities showed an interest in pedestrian walkways and possibly returning the Woodin Avenue bridge to two-way traffic.
"We really need groups within the community that want to see this thing pass, to step up and take on that role to go promote," Chelan Mayor Erin McCardle said. "We're here to maybe do some more neighbor meetings and talk about and educate what the Transportation Benefit District will do for the community, and that's what the next steps will be."
The city will move forward with it's planned projects on its six-year Transportation Improvement Plan and in a Capital Improvement Plan and McCardle added, "Just moving forward with the projects that are grant competitive, versus the projects that the city would like to have done."
The city council continues to develop a 2025 spending plan with a meeting at 4:00 p.m. Thursday at city hall, 135 E. Johnson Ave. in Chelan.
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