STA's campaign mailer this week claims to bust "myths."
I was the City of Spokane's CFO for 17 years. I checked every claim against STA's own Washington State audited financial statements.
Conclusion: STA isn't myth-busting — it's myth-making.
STA Claim #1: A "No" vote forces service cuts. -- Myth
This tax has never paid for current service — because STA never spent it.
From 2017 to 2024, the "temporary" tax collected $169 million, and STA's reserves grew $234 million — from $40 million to $274 million. They banked $65 million MORE than the entire tax brought in, while beating their own budget nine years straight, by a combined $320 million. You cannot cut service with a tax that has funded nothing but a savings account.
A "No" vote touches expansion plans — not one existing route.
STA Claim #2: "Every dollar in the bank is committed." – Myth
They said exactly this in 2016 — about the projects. Then they built the projects without spending a dime of the tax and banked all of it. In 2016, STA managed just fine — projects and grants included — on $40 million in reserves. Nobody at STA can explain why the $274 million they're sitting on today is suddenly not enough.
STA Claim #3: "Ridership increases every year." -- Myth
STA carried 10.9 million rides in 2016 — and 10.9 million last year. Zero growth in a decade, while staffing grew 56% and rides per resident fell 19%.
Let me be clear: this is not an anti-STA campaign. It's about priorities. Spokane has a health and safety crisis taking lives nearly every day, and a 30%-plus vacancy rate downtown. Lives and jobs — and we're talking about spending $1 billion for expanding bus service? It's like coming home to find your house on fire and going grocery shopping instead of calling 911. When you get back, you may not have a house.
I have friends who insist we should fund them all – a billion for transit and billions more for other priorities. I wish the world worked like that, but it doesn’t. Spokane does not have many billions for everything we would like to do. Instead we prioritize and make tough choices.
Remember: current STA services continue either way - their own audits make that clear. On August 4, put the fire out first.
Warmly,
Gavin
