Coalition Bulletin #55:
Citizen's Transportation Advisory Committee
Today Reveals $500 Million Backlog of Neighborhood Transportation Needs -
Meanwhile the Mayor busies himself and two dozen of his staff with plans for a
$50 million Street Car and $200 million in other transportation improvements for
South Lake Union!
- Conlin's committee discusses "LID financing" for the streetcar but over
half the costs under this mechanism would be passed on to taxpayers
- The Mayor ignores use of impact fees that would ensure Vulcan and other
developers foot the bill for the trolley, Mercer Corridor re-working, Terry
Avenue and other South Lake Union "improvements"
Who would
have 'thunk' that an esoteric discussion on use of local improvement districts (LID's)
could be so darn interesting. This morning I attended Richard Conlin's
Transportation Committee meeting to hear area "LID" experts describe how this
mechanism could be used to fund construction of the South Lake Union Street Car.
It was a rather nuanced discussion, needless to say, but what came through loud
and clear - us taxpayers are going to be called on to fund at least half the $50
million cost of the street car. According to a council staffer, even though area
businesses in South Lake Union along the trolley route could realize as much as
a $42 million dollar benefit (there's actually only one major owner and
beneficiary along the street car route - Paul Allen of course) the Mayor will
propose a special "LID" assessment requiring them to pay only $25 million of the
street car's $50 million pricetag. You guessed it. The Mayor wants us taxpayers
to foot the rest of the bill. Later this Summer, the Mayor is expected to bring
a specific LID proposal to the Council and ask their approval for the trolley.
It got more
interesting as they moved into item two on the Committee's agenda. Immediately
after the LID discussion, Conlin heard from members of the City's "Citizen's
Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) - a 12 member citizens group headed by
Daryl Smith. Charged with assessing the City's overall transportation needs and
making recommendations on how to finance those needs, Mr Smith got right to the
point. His committee identified a minimum backlog of neighborhood projects that
today would cost over 500 million dollars to complete These are projects in our
neighborhoods that need funding now - mostly deferred maintenance for streets,
traffic systems, bridges, etc. (and does not include funding for major projects
like the viaduct, seawall, Magnolia Bridge or South Spokane Street Bridge). As
these needs are accumulating, the cost likely would double within 10-15 years,
according to CTAC's findings. Bridge safety repairs accounted for 37% of the
total cost where there are real safety issues that have to be addressed right
now. He went on to say that to make headway addressing this backlog, the City
would need to spend an additional $40-50 million per year over 20 years just to
catch up. Mr. Smith, then offered CTAC's rather feeble set of recommendations
regarding how to pay for these added cost including greater use of "user fees"-
totally impractical mechanisms - all of which require state legislation and an
unprecedented level of regional cooperation. He even suggested a return to the
use of a street utility tax despite the recent supreme court decision striking
down use of this mechanism.
CTAC's key
recommendation was a call for another taxpayer sponsored voter approved city
levy they hoped would raise $25 million per year with about half going for
bridge repairs and the rest towards basic maintenance needs. This would only be
enough they said to at least prevent further deterioration of the city's
infrastructure. It would not be enough to make up for the entire backlog and
meet additional future expansion of the infrastructure that might be needed.
At this point
in Mr. Smith's presentation... I could only think of the irony of his comments
coming immediately on the heels of a presentation about the financial demands
accompanying the Mayor's plans for a street car in South Lake Union. In fact, if
irony could float, I'd say about then, it would have been hovering over the
council chambers like a thick fog.
Against a
backdrop of $500 million in pressing and necessary neighborhood transportation
needs, what's the Mayor doing with his time? He's spending literally millions
just in planning and staff time (over 25 staff from all departments focusing
almost singularly on South Lake Union) including $250 million in new
transportation infrastructure including the trolley, Mercer Corridor, and Terry
Avenue improvements all for South Lake Union. Fully 60 percent of new project
planning and funding in the Mayor's five year CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) is
dedicated only to South Lake Union projects. Our neighborhoods go without
funding even for basic safety needs while its full steam ahead in South Lake
Union.
What's
especially noteworthy, at no time in either these discussion this morning did
anyone even mention the possibility of using developer imposed impact fees
either to cover the cost of expanding infrastructure in South Lake Union or as a
primary tool that could be used when meeting the city's backlog of neighborhood
transportation needs. In fact, cities across the region are making widespread
use of impact fees as a way of ensuring that big developers pay their fair
share. The Growth Management Act and "Concurrency" specifically authorizes and
even encourages cities to first look at use of this mechanism. Why do our city
leaders completely ignore use of these tools and pass an inordinate share of the
burden on to us? I guess the answer is obvious.... Big business calls the shots
down at City Hall all too often.
So...how does
all this shape up? It means that unless our neighborhoods speak up, our city
leaders are first going to soak up a lot of existing state, federal, and local
tax dollars to pay for Paul Allen's trolley and other transportation frills in
South Lake Union - then sock the taxpayers with a massive voter approved bond of
say $100-200 million to cover neighborhood transportation costs and needs that
our leaders have neglected over these last five years....truly unbelievable.