Legislation
Legislation enabling the citizens of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties to create a regional transportation investment district (RTID) Planning Committee was approved by the Washington Legislature in 2002.
The 2006 Legislature made a number of important changes to the RTID law—including a requirement that the RTID planning committee and Sound Transit jointly submit a transportation financing plan to voters in the 2007 general election.
The 2003 Legislature also made amendments to the RTID statute concerning financing and proportionate distribution of funds among counties.
Following are summaries of:
2006 Legislation
Regional Transportation Governance
ESHB 2871 modified regional transportation governance provisions in existing law. This legislation created a Regional Transportation Commission and made a number of modifications to the RTID statutes:
• The RTID planning committee is allowed to change its boundaries to be contiguous with regional transit authority boundaries. The peninsula portion of Pierce County may not be included.
• The RTID planning committee must submit its finance plan as a common ballot measure along with a Sound Transit Phase 2 plan at the 2007 general election.
• The local match contribution required of local jurisdictions toward certain RTID projects is reduced from one-third to 15 percent.
• The authorized sales and use tax that RTID may impose is capped at 0.1 percent.
• RTID's authority to impose a motor vehicle excise tax is increased to 0.8 percent, and the committee may spend MVET revenue on any project contained in its plan.
• RTID's tolling authority is broadened and specifically includes either or both Lake Washington bridges.
• RTID keeps the interest on its state treasury accounts.
• The list of eligible projects which the RTID Planning Committee may fund is expanded to permit operations, preservation, and maintenance of tolled facilities backed by bond contracts, and is required to include operational expenses for traffic mitigation relating to construction mitigation arising from specific projects in the RTID planning committee plan.
The legislation specifies that neither the RTID Planning Committee nor Sound Transit may submit a new ballot measure to voters before the 2007 general election. Each entity must submit a finance plan to voters in 2007, and neither plan may be approved unless the other plan is also approved. The RTID plan must contain a SR 520 proposal that provides full project funding for seismic safety and corridor connectivity on the SR 520 project between Interstate 5 and Interstate 405.
The legislation requires that for a county to participate in an RTID plan, the county legislative authorities must adopt an ordinance indicating that county's participation in the plan.
ESHB 2871 authorizes King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties to establish single-county regional transportation investment districts and transportation benefit districts for broadly defined local transportation projects, after December 1, 2007.
2003 Legislation
Equity
SHB 2033 amended the RTID enabling legislation to require that each county receive a proportionate share of tax revenue generated within that county. Section 1(4) of the bill states:
"The plan must use tax revenues and related debt for projects that generally benefit a participating county in proportion to the general level of tax revenues generated within that participating county. This equity principle applies to all modifications to the plan, appropriation of contingency funds not identified within the project estimate, and future phases of the plan. During implementation of the plan, the board shall retain the flexibility to manage distribution of revenues, debt, and project schedules so that the district may effectively implement the plan. Nothing in this section should be interpreted to prevent the district from pledging district-wide tax revenues for payment of any contract or debt entered into under RCW 36.120.130."
The bill also amended the original RTID law to allow the RTID investment plan to be modified by each county. This measure provides a significant tool for ensuring that equity is maintained between counties as the investment plan is implemented.
RTID Bonding Authority
SB 5769 amended the RTID law to allow RTID to bond (borrow money). Bonding allows RTID to speed construction of projects. RTID can bond approximately $4.5 billion and, with a 60% approval of voters, up to approximately $14 billion.
1)(a) Notwithstanding RCW 39.36.020(1), the district may at any time contract indebtedness or borrow money for district purposes and may issue general obligation bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, secured by the pledge of one or more of the taxes, tolls, charges, or fees authorized to be imposed by the district, in an amount not exceeding, together with any existing indebtedness of the district not authorized by the voters, one and one-half percent of the value of the taxable property within the boundaries of the district.
(b) With the assent of three-fifths of the voters voting at an election, a district may contract indebtedness or borrow money for district purposes and may issue general obligation bonds or other evidences of indebtedness as long as the total indebtedness of the district does not exceed 5% of the value of the taxable property within the district, including indebtedness authorized under (a) of this subsection. The bonds shall be issued and sold in accordance with chapter 39.46 RCW.
Local Option Gas Tax
ESSB 5247 amended the RTID law to allow RTID to utilize a Local Options Gas Tax of up to 10% of the state gas tax.
2002 Enabling Legislation
Gov. Gary Locke signed the "Regionalism Bill" (ESSSB 6140) into law in March 2002. This bill provided the citizens of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties a mechanism to make direct investments in the region's transportation system.
The "Regionalism Bill" did not create a new layer of government. The bill provided a tool for the region to choose transportation investments utilizing elected county representatives and existing local, county, and state transportation agencies.
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