Shoreline City Council members voted unanimously to establish a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) at their regular meeting on June 22. The adopted ordinance forms the entity with the authority to enact a $20 vehicle license fee to fund roads and transportation infrastructure within the city boundaries.
The next step will include a public hearing about establishing a $20 vehicle license fee at the first meeting of the TBD board on July 6 . Council members will serve as the TBD board members during the meeting.
Adoption of the $20 fee would contribute an estimated $600,000 toward the maintenance of city roads and transportation infrastructure such as traffic signals annually, according to city finance director Debbie Tarry. Currently, the city spends about $3.25 million annually for roads and at least $2 million comes from the general fund, she said.
Shoreline collected $15 vehicle license fees prior to 2003 but a statewide initiative repealed the revenue source. The funding source was not replaced. Staff anticipates a gap of $1.8 million in the city’s operating budget beginning in 2010 and expanding to $2.4 million in future years.
“This (fee) is not going to solve all the issues related to the cities operating budget, it’s a small piece of that,” Tarry said. “This does give us a way to at least address some of the transportation needs.”
TBDs were approved by the state in 2007. Local governments, including Lake Forest Park and Edmonds, have established the entity and expect to collect the $20 vehicle license fees from residents this year. At least six months must separate the time a government establishes a TBD and begins the collections of fees.
Council members will hold meetings as the TBD governing body. After adopting bylaws for the separate body, TBD board members can decide to evoke a $20 license fee that does not require voter approval or try for up to a $100 fee or other voter-approved funding mechanisms. Annual reports on how the money is used for transportation are required by local governments that create a TBD.
The $20 license fee was recommended by the Long-Range Financial Planning Advisory Committee in April. Two members from the committee spoke in favor of the fee during public comment.
“If Shoreline sets up a TBD it basically beats (King) County and keeps our dollars here in Shoreline,” committee member Gloria Bryce said.
Board members will have one opportunity to set a fee up to $20, city manager Bob Olander said. Any increase beyond the $20 amount would need voter approval.
If the fee is approved by July 13, the city anticipates collection of the fees to begin in February 2010.
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