The chair and vice chairs of the Sound Transit Board on Wednesday issued the following statements after the Washington State House Transportation Committee’s passage of a transportation package that includes the full $15 billion requested authority for regional voters to consider a comprehensive Sound Transit 3 ballot measure.
• Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine:
“This action to provide the full $15 billion in funding authority gives voters the chance to bring light rail to Tacoma, Everett, downtown Redmond, Ballard and West Seattle. It’s a great day for regional mobility. My thanks to the House Transportation Committee for taking this important step, and we now look to the full House and Senate to agree.”
• Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland:
“Today when a traveler arrives at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, she can take light rail to Seattle, but she can’t take it to Tacoma. We need to change that, and provide relief for bus riders and drivers trapped in rising I-5 congestion. We applaud the House Transportation Committee for taking this important step and call on both chambers to advance the $15 billion in authority before adjourning.”
• Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Everett City Council Member Paul Roberts:
“In the last two years we’ve seen congestion delays on I-5 double. If we want to keep our economy moving we must move forward now with investments in congestion-free light rail. We hope the full House and Senate will agree with the House Transportation Committee’s action to provide Sound Transit with the $15 billion in authority so we can finish the regional light rail spine and build other critical projects.”
Sound Transit leaders traveled to Olympia earlier this year to lobby for the funding authority. The mix of funding tools include:
• An additional sales tax up to 0.5 percent (50 cents on a $100 purchase)
• An additional motor vehicle excise tax of up to 0.8 percent ($80 annually on a $10,000 vehicle)
• A property tax up to 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation ($75 annually for a $300,000 house)
If that authority is granted, the exact amount requested from voters will be determined later as the public helps shape a ballot measure for consideration in November 2016 or later.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website http://kowloonland.com.hk/?big=submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
