Yellow Pages
ANACORTES — When Jackie Boss bought her ticket to take a ferry to visit Sidney, B.C., it was her first step in finding a new home. She liked Anacortes so much she moved to the city 13 months ago.
“I’m living evidence of people who come here because of the ferry system,” Boss said.
She was one of at least 25 speakers at a public hearing Thursday who encouraged Washington State Ferries officials to not eliminate the international run between Anacortes and Sidney.
The hearing was called for the purpose of discussing the long-range planning for the ferry system as a whole. But the Anacortes-Sidney run dominated the proceedings.
All the speakers were united in their desire to maintain the international border connection between the two communities.
For the Samish Indian Nation, the international run is a link to tribal families and culture, said Ted Gage, tribal planning director.
“Our only remaining native speakers of our language are on Vancouver Island,” Gage said.
The international route is in jeopardy because the state ferry system hasn’t had a dedicated capital fund since 1999 when car tabs were set at $30.
Vehicle registration funded 75 percent of the vessel repair and replacement. Now, the ferry system pays its bills with fares and a small portion of the gasoline tax.
“The problem is we have aging boats and aging terminals and we don’t have a dedicated revenue stream,” said David Moseley, state ferries chief, who took the helm last March.
The governor and lawmakers between now and April have to trim $5.7 billion from the state’s 2009-11 budget, including making cuts in ferries expenditures.
The public has been asked to comment on two proposals that would chart the course of the state ferry system for the next 21 years.
Plan A would continue the current system and build 10 replacement vessels, but it comes with the cost of a cumulative budget shortfall of $3.5 billion by 2030.
Under either plan, fares would rise 2.5 percent each year, a reservation system would be added and the state would improve access to public transit, and walk-on would pay less than those driving, said Ray Deardorf, State Ferries planning director.
Under Plan B, State Ferries would provide only minimal service, eliminating the international run and reducing services on other routes and only building five replacement boats. But that still wouldn’t be enough to cover costs resulting in cumulative budget loss of $1.4 billion by 2030.
About 70 people packed the meeting room at the Anacortes Senior Center.
Speakers offered suggestions to trim costs, including reducing the number of boats on the international run or having it just run three days a week rather than seven.
Other suggestions included allowing out-of-state boat builders to bid on new ferries thus allowing the agency to apply for federal funds, replacing hulls on aging vessels and diverting more money from the gas tax.
“Put a little something on the car tabs,” said Pat Robertson of Anacortes. “Keep the system going.”
State Ferries will take comments until Tuesday, Jan. 21. Ferries officials will modify the draft and submit it to lawmakers Jan. 31.
