Port Orchard’s City Council voted at its July 12 meeting to impose a $20 fee on vehicle licenses when city residents renew their tabs.

Council members agreed 6-1 to approve the new ordinance, in which approximately $200,000 raised each year will be allocated to help fund prioritized city transportation projects.

Councilman John Clauson was the sole member to vote against the ordinance. He stated his desire to see the car tab issue go before voters, with the intention of increasing the license-tab fee to as much as $100. The council members had the authority to approve a $20 fee without a public vote. To ask for an amount greater than $20 — as much as $100 — the council is required to place the issue before voters.

Council members also voted to include two amendments to the ordinance proposed by member Scott Diener: one that added language calling for the preservation and maintenance of streets and sidewalks, plus related infrastructure, and the second, which stated that the fee will help ensure the city’s competitiveness in seeking grant funding.

Prior to the vote, council member Bek Ashby reiterated her view that the $20 fee is critical to the future of Port Orchard’s transportation projects. “I believe it’s reasonable and responsible to implement the $20 license fee,” Ashby said. She noted the competition for state transportation grant money is fierce, and those grants require concurrent funding from the city.

Ashby reminded council members of their agreement that the Tremont corridor project is the city’s top transportation priority.

“I see the need for this fee. We probably should have done it a while ago,” council member Cindy Lucarelli said. “This new source will make a dent” in providing for the city’s transportation funding, she said.

In response to citizen input at the council’s June 28 public hearing, council members directed that an accounting mechanism be established that would specify to citizens where the car-tab fees are to be allocated. Council member Shawn Cucciardi said it will provide a clear accountability of expenditures. “I want to make sure we utilize this new source of funds to create a net benefit for our people.” he said.

Diener said the car-tab fees, while a boost to the city’s transportation funding mechanism, is not a “panacea for our road needs.” He said “$200,000 won’t go far,” and reminded that the Bethel Road overlay and grind-out project cost $700,000 last year alone.

Multi-family ordinance

The City Council also had a public hearing to listen to citizen comments about a proposed ordinance for a multifamily tax exemption code. The code would provide time-limited exemptions from property taxes for multifamily housing within designated areas of the city, including affordable housing.

Nick Bond, city community development director, wrote in his staff report that the program’s purpose is to “increase residential availability and variety within the city, particularly for low- and moderate-income residents, and to attract new development into areas targeted for more development and/or redevelopment.”

Areas eligible for the tax incentive program include a stretch of property along Mile Hill Drive and Mitchell Road, Bethel Avenue and the downtown area.Nick Whittleton told the council that he would be in favor of the ordinance “if it was more stringent.”

Stuart Grogan, executive director of Housing Kitsap, said he supports the ordinance. Grogan said, “We’re at near-crisis levels in affordable housing in Kitsap County. We need more units, more places for people to live.”

Citizen activist Gerry Harmon spoke against the ordinance. She noted that the ordinance would allow for “more ways for people who have money to make more money. There’s nothing for us at the bottom.”

City Council members weighed in about the multifamily ordinance near the end of the meeting.

“It makes a lot of sense,” Clauson said. “We need to revitalize the areas needing it.”

Bond said his department is targeting areas needing redevelopment rather than underdeveloped or undeveloped areas.

The proposed ordinance will go forward to the Land Use Committee headed by Diener for additional discussion before returning for council review July 26, according to Mayor Rob Putaansuu.

In other City Council news, members reviewed refined plans for McCormick Village Park. Council members generally agreed the architectural plans are “on the right path.” Ashby said: “Is the architect on the right path? I say, ‘yes.’ The unknown is the cost to develop it.”