I oppose the November ballot measure increasing Kitsap Transit’s take on the sales tax again from 8/10 of one percent to 1.1 percent plus levying 3/10 of one percent motor vehicle excise tax.

Having earlier sat in the chair where the hard decisions must be made, I am painfully aware that counties must cover unfunded mandates and reductions of state money plus pay for vital functions such as jails, justice, police, and public health. Or that growth necessitates funding something critical such as the 911 Center that The Sun editorially opposed last spring. With no sunset to the additional taxes, we could be boxing ourselves into a corner.

The nostalgic push for foot ferries bringing back the by-gone era of mosquito fleets eliminates the synergism that has made ferries the most successful and economic mass transit vehicles around (with their state funding). Car ferries have the capacity to carry larger numbers of commuters economically.

Per commute period four Kitsap Transit spitkits at 15-minute departures from Bremerton have a capacity of 1,937 passengers. At 20 minute departures, 1,341. Where will the additional money come from to feed the 50 percent fare subsidy plus cost of more boats to meet additional demand? Eliminating bus service? Higher sales taxes?

Matt Ryan
Bremerton