PORT TOWNSEND — The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners will become the board for the newly formed Transportation Benefit District.
“This seems like just not adding a layer of bureaucracy when we don’t need it,” county commissioner Heather Dudley-Nollette said Monday.
County Administrator Mark McCauley said the board (BOCC) assuming the rights, powers, functions and obligations is in line with common practices.
“It (the BOCC) just absorbs all of the functions of the Transportation Benefit District,” McCauley said. “It eliminates the need for the interlocal agreement. By way of example, 85 percent of the cities and towns who have established TBDs have assumed their powers.”
McCauley said that for the board to assume the oversight role of the TBD, it needs to be found to be in the public’s interest. Adding TBD duties is efficient from an administrative perspective and thus in service of the public’s interest, he said.
The district includes all of the unincorporated portion of the county and will likely bring in more than $1 million annually, funding the county’s roads program.
Money will come from two sources, a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax, which the county estimates could raise $600,000 annually, and an annual Department of Licensing fee of $20, which the county estimates will raise almost $530,000.
The sales tax can be raised up to three-tenths of 1 percent, although an increase would require a vote of the people.
Licensing fees may be raised to $40 after two years and $50 after four years, according to state law.
In public comment, Tom Thiersch of Jefferson County said he thought the board’s assumption of TBD oversight was an obvious cost-saving simplification. He also expressed concern about the loss in federal funding and supported an increase in the sales tax.
“Our road fund is obviously heavily dependent upon the federal government,” he said. “A very large percentage of what we spend on roads comes that way. If those funds are at risk, then the Transportation Benefit District should really consider immediately putting the additional two-tenths of a percent sales tax on the next available ballot. Because we’re going to need that money.”
In a previous meeting, Public Works Director Monte Reinders said that, without forming the TBD, the county’s road program likely would face drastic cuts. He said the road fund reserves have been being spent down by $750,000 annually, and noted that, without a TBD, roads would face bankruptcy in the next two years.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
