Link Transit wants sales tax increase to fund system enhancements

Link Transit conducted community outreach over the past year-and-a-half trying to determine what the public wanted to see in terms of transit improvements and growth of the agency to better meet the needs of the area. 

Link also wanted to find out if the public was willing to pay for those improvements. 

“From the feedback we got through this process, particularly from earlier this year, it appeared there was fairly decent level of support, at least those that responded to the survey,” said Eric West, Link Transit Marketing and Communications director. “They were willing to pay a certain amount of money for the services they wanted to improved or added. That is where we are at now. It has been in the works for a couple years.”

Link started in December of 1991, so it has been in operation for 26 years. The voters in 1990 approved 4/10ths of 1 percent increase in the sales tax to fund Link. That remains today unchanged. 

Prior to 2000, Link used to be funded 80 cents per dollar generated in sales tax. The source of that money was the motor vehicle excise tax, which was repealed by I-685. 

“In early 2000, we lost 40 plus percent of our funding because that 685 initiative, so we were forced to cut service and make due on much smaller operating and capital budget. Our primary funding source is the sales tax, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of our revenue,” West said. 

Link has never previously gone before the voters to ask for a sales tax increase, while most other systems in the state have, often more than once. State law caps funding at 9/10th of 1 percent. 

West said they were forced to cut service in 2000 following the loss of funding.  

“We eliminated Saturday service, lowered our frequency on the Monday through Friday stuff, eliminated some services to small communities and things like that,” West said. “We did bring a lot of that service back probably in about the 2005 period. We had to eliminate a little service around the fringes when the recession hit us because we lost 15-20 percent of our revenue because sales tax collections were down due to the recession.”

As far as hours of service, West said it is now really close to what they had in 1999, before they made the massive cut in 2000. 

“We’re doing okay. We’re stable. Our revenues are steady. Our forecast is to maintain the existing level of services for the foreseeable future,” West said. “We just can’t add anything of any real size, like Sundays or operating much later in the evenings or increase the Saturday service because our budget is only so big and what we have is already spent.”

The proposal is to add 2/10ths of 1 percent to the sales tax, with 1/10th going into effect in July of 2018 and the second 1/10th going into effect in July of 2020. It would be phased in over two years. 

West said there’s no need to collect the full amount right away because they’re going to need more time to purchase vehicle to expand service, higher frequencies and greater coverage area. It takes at least a year or two to get buses. 

“We don’t really need to collect all the money up front because we don’t need it up front. Some of the services we could begin operating sooner. Its just a matter of having a bus on the road a little longer in the day. We have the vehicle. We may need to hire more staff to do those services,” West said. “A lot of capital needs we have met for the immediate future. The things that require buses and things like that would not happen until 2019, 2020 or later.”

The biggest single request from the public is for Sunday service. West said they’ve been hearing that for a long time. Ever since Saturday service was added 10-12 years ago, people have been asking for Sunday service. 

Link has never operated on Sunday for the entire 26 years. The second biggest request is for additional Saturday service. 

“We currently operate a third of the hours of service on Saturday that we do Monday through Friday. What that means is there is fewer trips to Chelan and Leavenworth,” West said. “There are 18-22 trips per day Monday through Friday, while on Saturday, there is five or six. Some communities don’t have any service on Saturdays. The frequency of service in Wenatchee is every 60 minutes instead of 30, so there is bus service less often.”

People want Saturday service to more closely approximate the service offered on the weekdays. If Sunday service were added, it would be much closer to what presently exists on Saturday. West said Sunday service would probably not be robust because there are fewer people traveling. 

“It’s going to appropriately scaled to the demand out there. It’s going to be a thought process on how we deploy these resources if the voters choose to support us,” he said. 

Adding later evening service would not be a huge change for Link, West said. The last bus leaves Leavenworth at 9 p.m. and gets back to Wenatchee at 10 p.m. So, the staff is still here. 

West said it would be basically the cost of additional drivers, then keeping a dispatcher, supervisor and mechanic on staff until about midnight. 

“With a couple more hours of time, there is not the startup costs like opening up another day of service like Sunday where we would have to hire the support staff,” West said. “The additional service in the evenings is relatively easy to do because it doesn’t require more buses. It may require more driver time because you are spreading a 14-hour day into a 17-hour day. You’re going to need more bodies.”

In terms of planning for the additional funds, West said they don’t have anything hard and fast. In general, for every dollar they get, 55 percent would go to expand the fixed route service, hours, days and routes to some areas, 20 percent would be for improvements for senior/disabled services. 

About 25 percent of the money would to go to get new buses, improving some bus stops and other capital expenses and technology, like real-time announcements at transit centers and apps that would allow people to track their bus on a smartphone. 

 “Stuff like that is becoming more common place in the industry,” West said. “As far as specifics, having this route operate at this time of day, we have dialed it into that level yet. If this comes to pass in couple months, and we knew we’re moving ahead, then it will be time to drill down on specific routes. We have some ideas but nothing set in stone.”

West said they do get requests to restore certain routes, like the one to Lake Wenatchee and Plain. He said there is a small, but somewhat vocal group that wants service restored back to the Plain/Lake Wenatchee area. 

If it comes to that, he said they will work closely with those communities to find out what works, what they really need and how Link can most effectively deliver that service. West said they have provided that route twice in the past, for years a time. 

“The ridership has been really, really low. You might have 2-3 people per trip. On a per passenger basis, it is a very expensive service. It will always be an expensive service, but it has to be within reason,” West said. “If you’re spending $100,000 per year to carry the same person twice a week, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. There’s better ways to spend the public dollar. On the flip side, those folks are paying taxes as well. Rightly so, they should expect some service.”

West said they will be working with those smaller areas to see what they can do to be efficient but still able to give them some service. 

The current sales tax generates about $13 million per year for Link. The increase, if approved, would add $5-6 million conservatively. 

“It would be considerable jump in revenue for us. It would allow us to offer a lot more service than we currently are,” West said. 

Link will be doing some public outreach at service clubs. West said they’ve already presented to city councils and county commissioners to discuss the service plan. 

“As far as advocating for this vote, as staff, we’re not allowed to do that. We can just provide factual information,” he said. “That month or so after Christmas will be pretty heavy schedule, getting out there with the media, mailings, etc.”

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.