Vashon ferry's future in a fog

When the state Legislature put the question of passenger ferries into the laps of Puget Sound counties earlier this year, it said it would continue to pay for Vashon Island service until July 2007.

But King County won't be able to pick up the service next summer, leaving unclear the future of Vashon foot ferries.

Mike Beck, transit contract administrator with Metro, said King County would have had to establish a ferry taxing district by last month if it wanted to start collecting taxes to operate a Vashon ferry next summer.

Since that lapsed, he said, the earliest the county could collect money and begin service would be 2008.

Meanwhile, Kitsap Transit, which wants to operate a passenger ferry between Southworth and downtown Seattle, has prepared its plan to assume passenger ferry service. But that will require county taxpayers to approve a tax increase when it goes to a vote in February.

The Southworth and downtown Seattle is a potentially lucrative route that could bypass Vashon unless a spur ferry is added.

King County wants a triangle route between Seattle, Vashon and Southworth, which could put it in competition with Kitsap Transit. But Beck said if Kitsap County taxpayers approve the tax increase, King County may back away and it may not be cost-effective to just serve Vashon. "We're going to get blown out of the water if Dick Hayes gets his tax," Beck said.

Hayes is head of Kitsap Transit.

Under the bill approved by the Legislature, King and Kitsap counties must submit a passenger-ferries business plan to the Legislature and the governor by Nov. 1.

The bill also requires the state to sell the passenger ferries Chinook and Snohomish, and the money would go into an account that could be used by counties to operate passenger ferries.

One caveat is that private operators can't be used on the routes and they must run with union labor.

But Hayes, who has already worked with Aqua Express, a private non-union company that operated a foot ferry from Kingston to downtown Seattle until it suspended service last year for financial reasons, thinks he can continue to contract with the private operator by bypassing the Chinook and Snohomish money.

Beck said that may be true for Southworth, but Vashon will require union labor.

The Legislature three years ago gave counties the right to create ferry districts and impose a property tax of 75 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value, without a public vote.

Initially, it wasn't clear what the King County ferry district would look like. Would it be just Vashon Island? But Beck said it will be a countywide district. He said for King County to get into the foot-ferry business and pay for Vashon, the Elliott Bay water taxi and a third undetermined route, possibly across Lake Washington, it would cost county taxpayers.

They would be responsible for a small amount, he said, about 2 cents for every $1,000 assessed valuation, or about $10 a year for a $500,000 home.

Hayes said he will be asking county taxpayers for a 0.3 cent increase in sales tax to pay for the passenger ferries and is trying to shrink the taxing district, leaving rural areas out of the vote.

When he tried to raise the county's sales and motor-vehicle-excise taxes 0.3 of a point in 2003 it was soundly defeated.

"I think this can pass in an urban district," he said.

Mike Sudduth, a Vashon Island resident who has been active in passenger-ferry talks, said he isn't worried about King County missing next summer's deadline.

"I believe that the state just wants to see progress being made," Sudduth said. "My expectation is that the Legislature will authorize and fund another two years of passenger-only service for Vashon, while King County moves forward with its plans to take over that service."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com