Ballot measure would raise $25M for more CT bus service

Voters in much of Snohomish County are being asked to approve a sales-tax hike to support Community Transit.

The 0.3 percent increase is the equivalent of adding 3 cents to the price of a $10 purchase. The Nov. 3 ballot proposal aims to generate $25 million per year in new revenue.

“I think that it’s a really important investment,” said Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson, who’s leading the campaign to support the measure. “We’re a growing community. We really can’t build enough roads to solve our congestion problems. We have to look to other alternatives.”

About a third of the new revenue would go to improve existing routes with extra buses and expanded hours. That would include congested commuter routes.

Another third would pay for a second Swift rapid bus line between Paine Field and Bothell’s Canyon Park area. The new Swift route would be modeled on the one that runs along Highway 99.

A final third of the revenue would support new bus routes, including commuter trips to downtown Seattle and the University of Washington. More connections between the I-5 corridor and eastern Snohomish County would be added, as well as routes to job, housing and educational centers in Arlington, Stanwood and Monroe. New routes along Highway 9 between Marysville and Snohomish are proposed as well.

Community Transit’s current share of sales tax is 0.9 percent. Its district covers most of Snohomish County’s urban areas with the notable exception of Everett, which is served by Everett Transit. Much of the Highway 9 corridor also lies outside CT’s district.

The proposed increase would push CT’s share of sales taxes to 1.2 percent. Sales tax is the agency’s only source of public funds, other than grants.

Supporters of the increase include Economic Alliance Snohomish County and the United Way of Snohomish County.

Opponents say CT should better manage its existing budget before seeking more money.

“It isn’t necessarily that we shouldn’t be subsidizing mass transit,” said Jeff Scherrer, a Lynnwood resident who helped draft the opposing statement for voters pamphlets. “It’s that we shouldn’t be subsidizing mass transit at the level they’re asking us to.”

Scherrer points to figures showing that CT spent an average of $9.10 per passenger trip in 2013. That’s about twice what it cost King County Metro or Pierce Transit.

Martin Munguia, a CT spokesman, said Scherrer’s numbers are accurate, but misleading.

The opponents’ figure ignores the fact that because of Everett Transit, CT does not serve the largest, densest city in its community, Munguia said. CT’s mission includes farther-flung, smaller communities and reaching them costs more money.

“We’re serving smaller communities at further distances,” Munguia said. “We just don’t have the density of ridership that Seattle or Bellevue or Tacoma do.”

CT’s per-mile costs are a better indicator of the agency’s efficiency, he said, and those figures are in line with Metro’s and Pierce Transit’s.

Scherrer has other reasons for opposing CT’s request. He notes that the higher tax won’t have a sunset date. And more transit related taxes are around the corner.

“Looking into the future, we should realize that next year Sound Transit will be coming to us with a tax increase,” he said. “They’ll be looking for $15 billion.”

Sound Transit is likely to ask voters in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties for permission to collect that money through a combination of higher property tax, sales tax and car-tab fees. The money would likely pay for light-rail expansion to Everett, Redmond, Ballard, West Seattle and Tacoma, as well as new express bus lines. Details are still being worked out, so it is unknown how much Snohomish County might benefit.

CT plans to reconfigure its bus lines once Sound Transit light rail reaches Snohomish County in 2023. The light-rail expansion includes stops in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.

Community Transit has not asked voters for a sales tax increase since 2001, after Initiative 695 capped car tab fees at $30. That money helped make up for the 30 percent of revenues the agency lost as a result of I-695. The initiative was overturned in court, but the legislature enacted the tax cut anyway.

The last time Community Transit received a tax increase to expand service was in 1990.

Ballots for the Nov. 3 election were mailed Thursday. They must be postmarked by election day or deposited in an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m. that evening.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

More in Local News

This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP)
A new movie based on OceanGate’s Titan submersible tragedy is in the works: ‘Salvaged’

MindRiot announced the film, a fictional project titled “Salvaged,” on Friday.

Craig Hess (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Sultan’s new police chief has 22 years in law enforcement

Craig Hess was sworn in Sep. 14. The Long Island-born cop was a first-responder on 9/11. He also served as Gold Bar police chief.

Cars move across Edgewater Bridge toward Everett on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edgewater Bridge redo linking Everett, Mukilteo delayed until mid-2024

The project, now with an estimated cost of $27 million, will detour West Mukilteo Boulevard foot and car traffic for a year.

Lynn Deeken, the Dean of Arts, Learning Resources & Pathways at EvCC, addresses a large gathering during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Cascade Learning Center on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Everett Community College in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
New EvCC learning resource center opens to students, public

Planners of the Everett Community College building hope it will encourage students to use on-campus tutoring resources.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman announces his retirement after 31 years of service at the Everett City Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett police chief to retire at the end of October

Chief Dan Templeman announced his retirement at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He has been chief for nine years.

Boeing employees watch the KC-46 Pegasus delivery event  from the air stairs at Boeing on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Boeing’s iconic Everett factory tour to resume in October

After a three-year hiatus, tours of the Boeing Company’s enormous jet assembly plant are back at Paine Field.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Teen boy identified in fatal shooting at Everett bus stop

Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15, was shot at a Hardeson Road bus stop earlier this month. Police arrested two suspects.

A memorial for a 15-year-old shot and killed last week is set up at a bus stop along Harrison Road on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Rival gang members charged with killing Everett boy, 15, at bus stop

The two suspects are accused of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Bryan Tamayo-Franco, 15.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Witnesses contradict gunman’s account of killing Monroe prison officer

Dylan Picard, 22, was driving on South Machias Road when Dan Spaeth approached his car to slow it down to avoid hitting a deer.

Most Read