Backers ask for new pier ballot levy

By Meg Olson

This fall Point Roberts voters may be asked to pay 18 cents more in property taxes per thousand dollars in property value to maintain a pier at the foot of Gulf Road, when and if the chamber raises the funds to have it built.

Pete Griffin of the county elections office said a chamber of commerce committee had submitted a petition with enough signatures to bring the proposal before county council but had to go back and get some voters to sign again with legal names. “It’s supposed to be coming in tomorrow,” he said. The petition needs to be signed by ten percent of the 580 active registered voters in Point Roberts. “They sent in more than that,” Griffin said. “It looks like it exceeds 58 by quite a bit.”

If county auditor Shirley Forsloff finds enough valid signatures on the petition she will pass it on to county council, who have the authority to pass a resolution putting creation of the service area and a levy to fund it before voters. Council will need to approve such a resolution by their September 10 meeting for the ballot item to make the November 5 general election.

A feasibility study and a biological assessment for the project are compete and permits are ready to be submitted to seven local state and federal agencies, said Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce president Terrie LaPorte. However, permitting agencies want to know who will pay for upkeep once the pier is built. “They need to know, if they go through this exercise, issue permits and we build this, that Point Roberts voters are prepared to pay for it,” she said.

The proposed levy would generate $45,000 every year to operate and maintain the pier. Any interest or left over dollars would be kept in the fund for future improvements. “Operating and maintaining a pier costs money,” LaPorte said. “It requires insurance, lighting, security, as well as other items.”

The levy would not be used to build the pier, LaPorte said, and would only go into effect once “construction funds have been found and the pier is visible.”

The Port of Bellingham has committed to helping the group find grant funding sources to build the pier. A $40,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and $10,000 in cash and in-kind donations have paid for the project to get to this stage.

One possibility being explored to fund the next stage in construction, $81,000 for engineering plans, is the county’s rural sales tax fund. Dewey Dessler, deputy administrator for Whatcom County, said the state returns eight tenths of the sales tax collected in counties with significant rural areas to build infrastructure in those areas. Since 1999 Whatcom County has been collecting $1.6 million each year. So far$268,000 has been used for two projects – the Infinet rural telecommunications access program and the Port of Bellingham’s countywide economic development strategy. “The law provides any project we support with these dollars needs to be in that plan or the county’s comprehensive plan,” Dessler said. An advisory committee to select projects to fund has been formed and is developing criteria for awarding dollars. “We want to be very cautious to be sure the dollars are used to meet high priority needs,” Dessler said.

Once the pier is built, LaPorte said, governance will be shared between several agencies. The Port of Bellingham will own the pier and will lease it for a dollar a year to the Point Roberts parks department, county parks and the chamber, who will manage it jointly. If voters approve the special recreation service area and the levy the funds would go to one of the agencies charged with maintenance, LaPorte said.

“It’s a long process, and slow,” LaPorte said, but worth it. “It will help stimulate our economy by bringing people to the Point to enjoy our natural beauty,” Laporte said. “It reopens the water to activities.”
..

BACK TO TOP