Select Ridgefield voters mull sales tax hike

The city of Ridgefield has an item on the Nov. 4 ballot that concerns the tiniest number of voters.

Eighty-one people living around the Ridgefield I-5 exit are registered to vote on a sales tax increase. The increase, from 8.2 percent to 8.4 percent, would apply to the receipts of future shoppers of a possible commercial venture there.

The small number of voters isn’t by accident, however; it’s by design. Ridgefield, a city of 4,015, is the first ever Washington municipality to take advantage of a 1987 state clause that allows cities to carve themselves into “transportation benefit districts.”

Urged by developers, the city council decided on this option last summer to raise $2 million for the $40 million project. Two developers pitched in to help the city pay for the study on whether the measure would be possible.

For now, that part of Ridgefield remains an expanse of plowed farmland with “For Sale” signs plunged into the earth. There’s also a Chevron gas station, a Drive-Thru Espresso stand and a beige complex with a dental office.

Grocery store Fred Meyer has looked into buying land there, though no deals have been settled. Still, the statement in the voter guide is optimistic. It reads: “When this ballot measure passes and a retailer like Fred Meyer comes to Ridgefield, a small portion of the sales tax they charge goes toward funding this project. This way the users of the interchange will help pay for it, whether they are from Ridgefield or just passing through the area.”

But whether those box stores move to the area remains to be seen. Ridgefield isn’t growing as rapidly as had been predicted in 2005, when the project got started. Many of the pricier homes on the hill by the high school remain empty. And Pacific Lifestyles, which built many of those houses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week because it has $56 million in combined debt.

When the interchange project started three years ago, the state and federal governments targeted $24 million for the project, and the city put in $2 million. Though the coffers aren’t full yet, the project appears to be under way, as bright orange construction markers have been placed along Pioneer Street.

On a recent afternoon, Heidi Jester of Heidi Jester Realty said she’s moving her business to Woodland, where she lives. A worker for the Department of Transportation told her the widened road would take up the front yard of her business, which she didn’t like.

“I’m moving before all the dirt and noise,” Jester said.

But there’s another reason she’s moving: She said a developer approached her about buying the property as an investment.

Isolde Raftery: 360-735-4546 or isolde.raftery@columbian.com.