2041 - Resolution - Kitsap Transit's Passenger-Only Ferries Investment PlanRESOLUTION NO. 2041
A RESOLUTION OF THE CTIY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON,
SUPPORTING KITSAP TRANSIT'S PASSENGER-ONLY FERRIES
INVESTMENT PLAN.
WHEREAS, Washington State Ferries will terminate passenger-only ferry service
between Bremerton and Seattle on September 20, 2003 and the Washington State Legislature
has not provided funding to continue this service; and
WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature has authorized Kitsap Transit to
provide passenger-only ferry service in Puget Sound in a public-private partnership that enables
Kitsap Transit to purchase boats, team up with ports to improve and use facilities, and enter
into contracts with private operators for ferry operations; and
WHEREAS, Kitsap Transit has developed a plan that encompasses all aspects of
cross-Sound passenger ferry service connecting Southworth, Bremerton and Kingston with
downtown Seattle, as well as local service connecting Port Orchard and Bremerton; and
WHEREAS, the passenger ferry services would provide 15 to 20 minute
departures during weekday rush hours and hourly service at other times and on weekends; and
WHEREAS, the voters of Kitsap County will decide on November 4, 2003
whether to enact two tax increases to finance passenger ferries, facilities and services; and
WHEREAS, the proposed sales tax increase is three-tenths of one cent, or $0.30
per $100.00 of taxable purchase, and the proposed motor vehicle excise tax increase on license
renewals is three-tenths of one percent, or $60.00 on a vehicle valued at $20,000; and
WHEREAS, two-thirds of the capital costs in the initial six-year plan would be
funded from federal or state funds and one-third from the sales tax in Kitsap County; and
WHEREAS, one-half of the annual operating costs would be funded from
passenger fares, a portion from miscellaneous income, and the balance from the sales tax in
Kitsap and the motor vehicle excise tax on license renewals in Kitsap; and
WHEREAS, there are multiple economic development reasons to support an
expanded, frequent and rapid passenger ferry service from Kitsap, including the following:
(A) The passenger ferry service will help to retain existing primary businesses
in Kitsap and thereby provide jobs to Kitsap residents because their owners -
residing in Kitsap -can more easily access suppliers in Seattle and its environs,
while their technical service providers in Seattle and its environs can more easily
access businesses in Kitsap; and
(B) The passenger ferry service will help to attract future primary businesses
to Kitsap because their owners -residing in Seattle and its environs -can more
easily locate their businesses in Kitsap and thereby provide jobs to Kitsap
Resolution No. 2041
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residents, yet access their businesses in a timely fashion even while maintaining
their established lifestyles in Seattle; and
(C) The ferry embarkation points are -with the exception of Southworth -in
the urban cores of Kitsap's urban growth areas and therefore will reinforce
commercial and light industrial growth in their vicinity for the effective use of
existing infrastructure; and
(D) The passenger ferry service will help to increase tourism to Kitsap and
thereby bring more funds and jobs to Kitsap; and
(E) One effect of business retention and recruitment will include that of a
more equitable distribution of real estate taxes in Kitsap between residential and
business property owners; and
(F) Another effect of business retention and recruitment will be the increase
of Kitsap County property values that will accrue to the short or long-term
benefit of their owners; and
(G) The passenger ferries will themselves generate new maintenance and
operating jobs in Kitsap County; and
WHEREAS, all of the above direct and indirect results of passenger ferries will
help to diversify the economy of Kitsap County, make it less dependent on its principal defense
sector, provide opportunities for Kitsap residents to both live and work in Kitsap, and thereby
generally improve civic life in Kitsap; and
WHEREAS, each generation should invest in its own and its children's future by
building on physical and social improvements made by prior generations; now therefore
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON
RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
THAT: The City of Port Orchard strongly supports the Kitsap Transit Passenger-
Only Ferries proposal and urges Kitsap County voters to approve the ballot measure on
November 4, 2003 authorizing necessary increases in the sales tax and motor vehicle excise tax
on license renewals for this purpose.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Po Orchard, SIGNED by the Mayor and
attested by the Clerk in authentication of such passage this day of September 2003.