Kent city officials continue to kick the tires about whether to implement an annual vehicle tab fee of $20 to help pay for street operations and maintenance.
City staff gave the City Council a rundown at a Jan. 20 workshop about how the council would need to form a transportation benefit district in order to raise about $1.6 million a year with an annual vehicle license fee of $20 per year.
The council would need to form the district and set a fee by June in order to start collecting the money in 2016, said Council President Dana Ralph during a phone interview.
“No decision was made,” said Ralph, who added the workshop served mainly as an informational session as the council tries to figure out whether to charge residents the vehicle fee.
The council will have a workshop on March 17 to hear from Tim LaPorte, city public works director, about the transportation system and the funding gap for maintenance and projects.
“We’ll go further from there if the council shows enough interest to form a transportation benefit district,” Ralph said.
Mayor Suzette Cooke proposed implementing the vehicle tab fee in her budget for 2015-16. During budget deliberations last year, the council decided to wait until this year to make any decision about the new fee.
The council can approve a fee up to $20 without voter approval.
Forty-four cities and counties have adopted transportation benefit districts, according to the state Department of Licensing. All of them charge a $20 fee, except for Burien, which has a $10 charge. Des Moines, Maple Valley and Enumclaw are nearby cities that charge the fee.
“I was surprised at the number of cities that have it in place,” Ralph said.
The Kent City Council approved a business and occupation (B&O) tax that started in 2013 and brings in about $5 million per year to pay for street repairs. The council adopted a solid waste tax November that increased garbage taxes in 2015 to bring in about $3 million per year for residential street repairs.
A transportation benefit district would be a bit more flexible for spending because the funds could be used for traffic signals, guardrails and other uses rather than simply street maintenance, Ralph said.
“Most everything we’ve done so far is for street maintenance,” she said. “This is a little broader.”
The city needs about $12 million per year to keep up with street maintenance, according to city staff.
“I don’t know where things are headed with this,” Ralph said about whether to form the district in order to charge the vehicle tab fee. “But if it is to happen for use in 2016, it has to happen by June.”
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