Our ferries are in rough waters today because a wave of interest in $30 vehicle license tabs swept away the revenue source we’d lined up to operate and expand the ferry system. Referendum 49, approved by voters in 1998, allowed the ferry system to use motor vehicle excise tax revenue to pay 80 percent of capital and 20 percent of operational costs. Unfortunately for ferry commuters, the motor vehicle excise tax — and our long-term answer - disappeared a year later with the passage of Initiative 695.

By my figuring, we must find an additional $72 million per year just to continue ferry service at today’s level. That number doesn’t include most maintenance costs, because I’m convinced — between my research into ferry maintenance costs and review of Washington’s Constitution, which obliges the state to build and maintain our highways — that ferry commuters shouldn’t be burdened with certain costs related to maintaining our marine highways. I’ve backed this contention up by prime-sponsoring House Bill 1459, which directs the state transportation commission to exclude maintenance when calculating ferry operating costs.

I propose spending $30 million annually from the state’s general fund on ferry operations (up from $20 million now) and another $10 million from gas taxes, on top of approximately $16 million already received from the state’s gas-tax revenues. Filling the remaining $16 million gap likely will mean recovering a greater portion of operational costs at the fare box: probably 80 percent, maybe more, but definitely up from the 65-66 percent we’ve seen over the past few years.

However, I favor a slower tack toward 80 percent fare-box recovery than has been proposed. Let’s get there over 10 years instead of six, for example, with smaller annual fare increases. State government will have to find the funds to make up the difference.

Capital dollars are a much larger problem. The ferry system’s capital construction account will be empty come July, and we have a capital shortfall of $197 million for this biennium alone. Without capital to keep our vessels afloat, we will have to cut service dramatically.

With Referendum 49’s motor vehicle excise tax dollars gone, we must find another dedicated revenue source to pay for vessel and dock replacements, major repairs and expanded service. It must be a steady stream that will continue to grow and can serve as backing for capital bonds. The likely options before us today could include increases in the state’s gas tax, or dedicating a portion of the sales tax collected on automobile-related purchases.

The revenue package that we legislators ultimately craft and adopt must show exactly what citizens in the 23rd District and statewide will get for their money. Not just a list of capital projects for our land-based and marine highways, but also project completion dates and maintenance costs. Such accountability is crucial when people’s hard-earned dollars are on the line.

Surviving the short term has to be our first long-term goal for the ferry system. However, in the course of maneuvering among the rocks and shoals, we will get that much closer to the revenue source and management structure that ultimately help our transportation system become self-sustaining.

As I’ve noted before, the ferry system is as important to Kitsap County as Interstate 5 is to Seattle and King County. For that reason, there is interest at a Puget Sound regional level in addressing the ferry funding question once and for all, so it no longer has to compete from year to year with other transportation operations. I look forward to seeing how state government and local government might work together to help the ferry system find open water — and ultimately, safe harbor.