Soap Lake to vote on sales tax

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake might have had the worst streets of any town or city in the state of Washington.

But no longer, according to Mayor Alex Kovach.

“We’re now ninth from the bottom,” Kovach said, citing figures from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board. “We’re still the worst in Grant County, and we’ve got a long way to go.”

“But we’ve made a lot of improvements,” he added.

A focus on improving the city’s streets in the last few years has helped, Kovach explained, as should an upcoming vote on Feb. 8 on a special .02% sales tax to help fund needed maintenance and improvement on city streets.

A simple majority is needed to approve the proposed tax increase. If approved, the tax would last for 10 years and is expected to raise around $30,000 in the first year — enough to cover the city match to state grants for a number of improvements planned in the next six years.

If approved, the tax increase would be on top of the existing $20 car tab and would bring Soap Lake’s citywide sales tax to 0.84%, in line with both Ephrata and Moses Lake, both of which also have dedicated sales taxes to pay for street maintenance, according to information at the city’s website.

Kovach said the sales tax is needed to help meet a deficit in the city’s street maintenance fund, and the city has pulled money from the real estate excise tax (REET) and general property tax to cover maintenance and repair costs.

“This will be locked in for streets,” he said.

According to the city’s six-year street project plan, Soap Lake is looking at refurbishing and improving 2.36 miles of city streets and sidewalks for an estimated cost of $4.8 million. Of that, the city needs to match 5%, or $240,000, and will need all the funds brought in by both the car tab fee and the proposed sales tax.

Among the projects proposed in the six-year plan are redoing Canna Street and its sidewalks from First Avenue Southeast south to Seventh Avenue Southeast, Third Avenue Northeast from state Route 17 to Eastlake Avenue, both Second and Third avenues from state Route 17 to Canna Street, Main Avenue from Cherry Street to Ginkgo Street, and Lakeshore Drive from Juniper Street south to Fir Street.

The city is also planning to improve the roads of Fourth Avenue Northeast, Second Avenue Northeast and First Avenue Northeast between state Route 17 and Elder Street North, including Elder Street.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.