Dec. 16, 2014
Creating a Thurston County
Transportation Benefit District
THURSTON
COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
CREATING A TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DISTRICT is one way many cities and
Cathy Wolfe
THURSTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
District One
Sandra Romero
District Two
Karen Valenzuela
counties in Washington are funding important road maintenance projects, new
transportation infrastructure, and public transit systems that are aging, deteriorating, and
not keeping up with inflation or population growth. Washington state law authorizes cities
and counties to create local transportation benefit districts and to collect revenue to help
pay for those projects.
are considering a proposal to create a
Transportation Benefit District—or “TBD”—for the unincorporated areas of the county.
If commissioners approve the formation of the TBD, the district would have the option of
establishing a $20 annual car licensing fee, which could raise about $1.8 million annually to
help fund important road maintenance and transportation improvement projects that will:
 PRESERVE our existing transportation infrastructure
District Three
 improve road SAFETY
Cliff Moore
 replace outdated systems and tools with updated TECHNOLOGY
County Manager
Thurston County Courthouse
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502-6045
Phone: (360) 786-5440
Fax: (360) 754-4104
TDD: (360) 754-2933
www.co.thurston.wa.us
THURSTON
COUNTY
Public Works
Department
Ramiro Chavez, P.E., PgMP
THURSTON COUNTY’S
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM:
by the numbers...
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

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more than 1,000 miles of roadway
109 bridges
47 miles of trails
more than 110 miles of sidewalks
more than 23 miles of guardrails
more than 1,000 street lights
nearly 6,500 storm drains
256 storm water ponds
more than 17,000 traffic signs
Total Value: more than $750 million…
…that’s
more than
3/4 of a BILLION dollars!
MORE FUN FACTS:
 Thurston County Public Works
crews use more than 17,000
gallons of paint each year to
stripe county roads.
Director
 In 2014, county crews used
9605 Tilley Road S, Suite-C
Olympia, WA 98512-9140
chipseal to resurface almost 40
miles of roadway—that’s about
540,000 square yards of
chipseal.
Phone: (360) 867-2300
TDD: (360) 754-2933
 If you connected all of the roads
www.co.thurston.wa.us/publicworks
maintained by Thurston County
end-to-end, you could drive
from the Washington/Oregon
border all the way to Mexico!
An Accredited Agency
of the
American Public Works
Association
Dec. 10, 2014 - page 1
OUR TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROBLEM:
Thurston County is struggling with TWO FACTORS that stand in the way
of making critical transportation infrastructure investments:
Since the passage of Initiative 747 in 2001, counties across the state are faced with a
constant cycle of budget cuts as inflation consistently outpaces property tax revenues.
Couple this with sluggish gas tax revenues, and the result is county Road Fund
revenues that are lagging behind inflation.
Rising costs for materials and labor are also eating away at the county’s buying power.
For example, if something costs $10 this year, you’ll need to spend $11 next year for
that item, and the problem only compounds as each year goes by. This problem is
magnified even more by the fact that construction industry inflation in particular is
rising much faster than general inflation—the cost of some construction materials has
more than doubled in ten years.
(Washington State Construct Cost Trends at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Business/Construction/CostTrends.htm)
Over the last 10 years, the cost
to chipseal 1 mile of road has
gone up more than
110%
Traffic collisions are the 4th
leading cause of death for
county residents.
Between 2008 and 2012,
there were
152
fatal and serious traffic
collisions in Thurston County
If funding for road preservation
and maintenance is not
increased,
63%
transportation
revenue
is up
slightly...
...but
overall
construction
costs are
WAY up!
PRESERVING TODAY VS.
REPLACING TOMORROW
= MONEY $AVED
Deteriorating roadway:
Hwy 99 near Grand Mound
Large
crack
in
L-4
Bridge
center
support
“Preserving and maintaining our road infrastructure
today will actually save money in the long run.
“If we don’t invest now and we wait until our roads
and bridges reach the point of failure, it can cost us
two times or even three times as much money to
replace those roads and bridges.
“But if we use the transportation benefit district funds
to make strategic investments now and protect what
we already have, we can avoid those much larger
costs.”
—Ramiro Chavez, Director of the
Thurston County Public Works Dept.
Dec. 16, 2014 - page 2
of county roads will be rated in
“poor condition” in 10 years
30%
of the county’s bridges are
more than 40 years old
Deteriorating bridge support
WHAT YOU GET FOR YOUR TBD MONEY:
State law allows cities and counties to create transportation benefit districts, and allows those TBDs to collect certain fees and
taxes. But those revenues that the districts collect can only be used to maintain or improve the transportation system—the funds
cannot be used by the city or the county for other programs or purposes.
As part of the TBD proposal that Thurston County Commissioners are considering, Public Works Department staff members have
outlined SYSTEM PRESERVATION, ROADWAY SAFETY and UPDATED TECHNOLOGY as the three main strategies that would be used to create a work
plan if the TBD is approved, and those strategies would help determine which transportation projects would be funded by the TBD.
SYSTEM PRESERVATION: The county’s existing transportation infrastructure is worth more than 3/4 of a
billion dollars, so it’s vitally important that we protect, maintain and preserve those
assets and keep them functioning well. Projects that would help preserve our
existing infrastructure would be given high priority by the TBD.
Examples of the kinds of projects:

road repairs and resurfacing

shoulder repair and preservation

culvert and roadway drainage maintenance
ROADWAY SAFETY:
Traffic collisions are the 4th leading cause of death for Thurston County residents, so
improving roadway safety is a top priority. Projects that would protect or improve
roadway safety or reduce traffic collisions would be given a high priority by the TBD.
Examples of the kinds of projects:

guardrail maintenance, repair and preservation

installing rumble strips and safety edges

structural maintenance and preservation for bridges
UPDATED TECHNOLOGY: Doing maintenance, preservation and repair work to our transportation
infrastructure also offers us the opportunity to use the updated technology and techniques that can improve safety,
address congestion, or that are more cost effective or hold up better over time.
Projects that are able to use updated technology to be more effective and efficient
would be given a high priority by the TBD.
Examples of the kinds of projects:

up-to-date “traffic calming” techniques and devices

up-to-date signal systems

up-to-date pedestrian and school beacons
WHO PICKS THE PROJECTS?
When a city or county creates a transportation benefit district, state law requires that the members of the city council or
board of county commissioners who created the district must then serve as the district’s board of directors. If several
municipalities come together to form a TBD, a select number of members from each council or commission must serve on
the TBD’s board. Because the Thurston County Commissioners are considering a TBD that would only cover the
unincorporated areas of the county, the Thurston TBD Board of Directors would be each of the three county
commissioners.
If a Thurston TBD is established, the TBD Board of Directors would create a work plan that identifies priority projects.
Once the TBD board members have voted to approve the work plan, those board members would then vote to approve
construction of individual projects and the individual project budgets.
Dec. 16, 2014 - page 3
What is a Transportation Benefit District (TBD)?
A Transportation Benefit District (TBD) is a quasi-municipal
corporation and independent taxing district created for the
sole purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving,
providing, and funding transportation improvements within
the district.
What are some of the criteria that might be used to choose
specific transportation projects?
According to RCW 36.73, criteria may include:
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Who is allowed to create a TBD?
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The legislative authority of a county or city may create a
TBD by ordinance following the procedures set forth in
RCW Chapter 36.73 The jurisdiction proposing the TBD may
also include other counties, cities, port districts, or transit
districts through interlocal agreements.
What area is included in the Thurston County TBD proposal?
Thurston County’s Transportation Benefit District would
include only the unincorporated areas of the county. That
does not include any incorporated cities or towns, but it
does include the urban growth areas just outside the city
limits of the cities and towns.
Who would govern the Thurston County TBD?
The members of the legislative authority proposing to establish
the TBD form the TBD’s governing body. The Thurston County
TBD Board would consist of all three members of the Thurston
County Commission. The legislative authority is acting
ex-officio and independently as the governing body.

Safety improvements
Preservation and maintenance of roadways and
other transportation facilities
Increased vehicle capacity
Improved travel times
Increased performance of the transportation
system overall
Other criteria established by the TBD Board
What kinds of taxes are TBDs allowed to collect?
State law (RCW 36.7) allows TBDs to collect several
different kinds of taxes and fees. Some do not require
voter approval for the TBD to collect them, including:

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Annual vehicle license fee up to $20. The fee is
collected when you renew your car tabs each year.
Transportation Impact Fees on commercial and
industrial buildings
Some do require voter approval before the TBD can collect
them, including:
 An annual vehicle license fee above $20, up to
$100.
 A sales and use tax up to 0.2%.
 Property taxes—a TBD can collect a 1-year excess
levy , or an excess levy for capital purposes.
 Vehicle tolls
Are there vehicles that are exempt from the $20 fee?
What kinds of transportation improvements can be funded
by a TBD?
Under the regulations establishing a TBD, the governing
body must develop a plan that specifies the transportation
improvements to be provided or funded by the TBD. A TBD
can fund any transportation improvement contained in any
existing state, regional, or local transportation plan that is
necessitated by existing or reasonably foreseeable traffic
congestion levels. This can include preservation,
improvements to and maintenance of county roads, state
highways, investments in high capacity transportation and
other such projects identified in a regional transportation
organization plan or state plan.
Go to the Washington State Department of Licensing web
page at www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/localfees.html
for a list of vehicles that must pay the fee, vehicles that are
exempt from the fee, and other licensing information.
More questions about the Thurston County Transportation
Benefit District proposal? Contact Ramiro Chavez or Scott
Davis with the Thurston County Public Works Department:
Ramiro Chavez
[email protected]
Dec. 16, 2014 - page 4
Scott Davis
[email protected]
or call (360) 867-2300