10/08/2005: "Ferry Advisors Urge NO on I-912"

The members of the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee have come out as a group to against I-912. The following letter has been sent out by the committee:

As residents of San Juan County, we are very dependent on the Washington State Ferries (WSF) for transportation to and from the mainland and inter-island, as well as most things we purchase locally. We were dramatically reminded of this reliance when the initiative to lower motor vehicle taxes was approved and the resulting local fare increases of over 60% and service reductions were imposed.

Passage of Initiative 912 –the ballot initiative to rescind the increase of the state's gasoline tax approved by the legislature last spring - could dramatically impact our ferry service again. Besides the direct impact on Washington State Ferries capital projects (including a planned additional ferry for the San Juans), the potential for more immediate indirect impacts on ferry users is very sobering. System-wide fuel costs for running the ferries have jumped from $40 million in the 2003-2004 biennium to $86 million projected in 2005-2007, and will continue rising. Whatever money the state has available will certainly go to meeting the most pressing highway needs. That leaves more service cuts and fare increases for us, as well as further shifting of money to cover operating costs and away from improving terminals (think Friday Harbor, Orcas and Anacortes). It would pit the South Sound against us for dwindling resources, and that would be a losing proposition. It's a bad deal all around.

Because of this potentially huge impact on all ferry users, the San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee, which represents island ferry users and works to make ferry service as focused on residents' needs and affordable as possible, urges you to vote no on I-912. . Let's not repeat the devastating fare increases incurred following the initiative to lower motor vehicle taxes.

If you need additional information regarding this issue, please feel free to contact your FAC members.

Thank you,
Patricia McKay and Robert deGrave of San Juan; Dacia Youngren and Ed Sutton of Orcas; David Moody and Jim Smith of Lopez and Alex MacLeod of Shaw