King County transportation office warns of $3 million annual shortfall, pauses many projects

Tom Rickert, the county transportation finance lead, told the King County Transportation Committee on Aug. 19 that the department’s proposed FY2026 budget faces an ongoing revenue shortfall that will force the agency to pause or scale back many projects and shift priorities to maintenance. Rickert said the county’s transportation funds show a combined fund balance of about $182,000,000 and outstanding contractual obligations of roughly $83,000,000 (now closer to about $90,000,000 after recently approved projects). After accounting for those obligations, he said the department’s available fund balance is about $105,000,000, and identified approximately $118,000,000 in local-funded projects expected over the next three years — creating a projected $13,000,000 shortfall over that period. The FY2026 proposed budget totals about $116,980,000. Rickert said recurring annual revenues available to the department are roughly $46,610,000 while recurring annual expenditures total about $49,600,000, producing an annual operating gap of about $3,000,000. He attributed the primary revenue change to a reduction of $6,850,000 in Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) sales-tax allocations after a change to a 50/50 split between KDOT and public safety. Why it matters: Rickert said the change reduces the department’s capacity to pursue capacity and safety projects that rely on local matches for federal and state grants and will shift the program toward maintenance-only work when feasible. Committee discussion and direction: Committee Chair Vern Teppi and other members pressed staff on which projects will be put on hold and what the maintenance implications will be. Rickert listed roughly 19 projects being scaled back or placed on hold, and said several already-awarded grants (for example, some bridge and safety grants) will be protected where possible. He said the department will continue phase‑1 engineering for certain safety projects but will not proceed to full construction without available local match funds. Examples cited by Rickert: phase‑1 engineering or partial work will continue for projects including the Burlington and Silver Glen safety improvements (phase‑1 work continued because of safety concerns), Fabien Parkway at 31 (phase‑1 engineering, about $1.5 million of additional engineering still outstanding), Randall Road interchange and certain bridge replacements where structure work is mandatory, and the planned multimodal bicycle facilities on segments of Randall Road (design may proceed but construction is scaled back). Staff noted program-level adjustments under consideration to reduce costs: delaying new capacity projects, seeking greater internal delivery of maintenance tasks (including a county-owned paint truck and possibly crack sealing crews) and prioritizing maintenance grants over capacity grants. Rickert said a new paint truck budgeted at about $500,000 is expected to save roughly $500,000 annually once operations are in-house, by replacing previously contracted painting work. Workforce and personnel: The department’s FY2026 staffing was presented as 79 positions (71 full time, 8 part time/seasonal) split between administrative/professional roles (34) and maintenance (37). Rickert cautioned that negotiated union wage settlements or nonunion salary choices later set by the county board could increase personnel costs beyond the current estimate. Service impacts: Rickert warned the shortfall will likely reduce pavement resurfacing mileage, constrain new capacity projects, and potentially reduce construction jobs tied to grant-funded work. He said transit and the Bridal Cane paratransit program (services for older adults and people with disabilities) remain priorities; staff will pursue maintenance and operational grants to preserve those services. Next steps: Rickert said the status-of-funds report will be updated monthly and that staff will present a revised multi-year plan and a list of projects removed from the program so the county board can consider funding alternatives. Sources and attributions: All figures and program descriptions above were presented by Tom Rickert to the Transportation Committee. Public comment recommending a higher local option sales-tax rate came from Steven Leffler during the public comment period. Ending: The committee did not vote on the budget at the meeting; staff were directed to continue monthly financial reporting and to return with options for closing the multi-year shortfall.