[Previous entry: "Christmas Band Will Play On"] [Next entry: "County Fined $10K For Open Sewage Dumps"]

12/19/2008: "Governor Scuttles Sidney Ferry Run? Maybe."

The Governor’s proposed budget cuts out the Sidney ferry run, and the potential impact on the tourist economy good be significant. The budget proposal would save the state over $9 million dollars -or would it?

Making the cut would hit San Juan County, but some say the hit to the state as a whole would have even greater consequences, and could be a false savings.

Senator elect Kevin Ranker has repeatedly stated the Sidney, and the San Juan ferry runs, are a strong draw to those planning summer trips to the northwest, and the loss to the state wide economy would be “huge.”

The Sidney route has been in place since 1920, but in recent years it has been a financial drain on the operation budget of the ferry system.

In any case, the Governor’s budget is a draft, and even in final form the State Legislature is bound to make some changes. One thing is sure, and that is the push to retain the Sidney run will now increase. Budget highlights here