by Richard Uhlhorn
Chelan City Council was given an introduction to Transportation Benefit Districts (TBD) at a Wednesday, November 8 workshop with the expressed outcome for the Council to understand the process to move forward.
A Transportation Benefit District provides a City of County a funding source to be used only for Street and Sidewalk Improvements. “The funds are dedicated,” City Administrator Wade Farris said. “They cannot be spent on anything other than streets or sidewalks by law.”
Instigating a TBD takes approximately a year to accomplish and requires a board to be formed of council members, generally with the Mayor overseeing the process without a vote. This board must figure out how to fund the process.
Once the Council has agreed to move forward in establishing a TBD, a Public Hearing is required after which the full council votes on the process.
The Council will eventually decide on how funds will be raised which could include:
- A Vehicle License tab fee up to $20. “That is not a good idea for funding,” said Farris.
- A .01% or .03% raise of the sales tax. “This is the most likely path forward,” said Farris.
A .03% addition to the Sales Tax would raise approximately $1 million dollars per year. The additional tax is spread out with 75% of sales tax being generated by tourists and visitors to the District.
Once the fund is established, Farris stated that it could be used as a match for street and sidewalk grants from agencies. “It would have a positive impact and since it is sales tax driven, tourists would also be paying their share,” said Farris.
“We could get it in place this year,” Farris said. He added that over the next year public hearings on the measure would be held after which it would be placed on the election ballot. “We would wait until the November 2024 election to get the largest turnout,” Farris said. “Then (if passed by the voters) we could start collecting in 2025.”
TBDs:
Any City or County may form a TBD by ordinance after a Public Hearing. The City must specify the boundaries of the district to be formed and may not change those boundaries without further public hearings.
An established TBD must be governed by members of that jurisdiction’s legislative body.
Since TBDs have been allowed, voters have approved the vast majority of all proposed sales and use taxes. Leavenworth and Wenatchee have approved TBDs.
A municipality is required to submit financial reports to the State Auditors Office on a yearly basis.
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