During the 2015 Bothell City Council retreat, and again at the April 7 City Council meeting, a potential Transportation Benefit District (TBD) license fee was discussed to help partially fund street maintenance costs in Bothell.
The new TBD fee could immediately create a non-voter approved $20 fee, along with a ballot measure for a TBD fee up to $100, total, once a final street preservation strategy has been agreed upon.
“The transportation funding needs that the city of Bothell currently has are to replace lost and one-time revenues that are currently funding our street fund, to restore maintenance programs such as pavement and sidewalk repair that we have foregone over previous budgets,” said Bothell Public Works Director Erin Leonhart during the council meeting. “[Other uses include] increase pavement preservation and to also have a conversation about possibly increasing sidewalk construction.”
Vehicle registration fees in Washington State are based on a variety of factors, including the type of vehicle and the vehicle’s weight, along with the owner’s location of residence and the license plate type.
Each local transportation district, including the public works departments of Kenmore and Bothell, have the ability to setup a local vehicle licensing charge. Kenmore already has a $20 TBD fee, whereas people within Seattle have, on top of the $20 TBD fee, a $60 fee for Metro subsidization.
The Transportation Benefit District also has the opportunity to, if approved by voters, impose a fee of up to $100.
The TBDs are authorized under RCW Chapter 36.73 and can be implemented in order to improve travel times, increase daily and peak capacity, or ensure optimal performance of the system, such as needing maintenance.
Along with the new tab taxes and fees of up to $120 a year, there is also a sales and use tax increase option of up to 0.2 percent, also subject to voter approval.
“There’s multiple ways that the council can choose to use revenues or opportunities to bring in revenues, and that can be done through a ballot measure for the $100 licensing fee or, could be, an increase in sales tax,” Tami Schackman, finance director for the city of Bothell. “Basically it all comes down to taking it to the voters, and having a package we can take to them and they endorse, as far as street improvements and future maintenance.”
The finance department has estimated that the $20 fee will increase the taxes and fees raised for street funding by around $750,000. The 0.2 percent sales tax increase would bring the city around $2.37 million, whereas the estimates for the $100 fee were not included in the meeting.
In order for the city to keep the streets at 70 to 80 percent efficiency, the city requires approximately $5.8 million to keep the streets at 69-percent efficiency for a six-year period.
“The sweet spot is at a PCI (Pavement Condition Index) of 80, where you can kind of maintain that at a certain level,” said Bothell’s Public Works Capital Division Manager Steve Morikawa during the council meeting. “Please understand that, as you defer maintenance, your backlog gets bigger and more expensive.”
To keep the streets maintained at an 80-percent efficiency, it would be approximately $10 million during a six-year period. The sales tax increase alone would bring in approximately $14.2 million during a six-year period.
Nothing would be decided until after a public engagement process to discuss what level of TBD ballot measure would be preferred by the community, and then the issue would come back to the council for final approval for the fees or ballot measures.
The next steps in the process for building a transportation benefit district includes a public hearing on April 21.
The immediate $20 renewal fee could begin as soon as late spring, however the potential $100 fees wouldn’t start until voters approve of the fees. The fees would only impact Bothell residents.
Alternative options for funding don’t include levies lid lift or a maintenance levy, bonds and other means for funding street maintenance.
