Washington staff urge voters be asked in 2026 to renew half-cent transportation tax to fund Highway 100, local projects

City staff presented a plan Monday to ask voters in April 2026 to renew Washington’s half-cent transportation sales tax so funds remain available after the current levy sunsets in 2030.

The presentation, given to the Washington Area Transportation Committee by Charles Stankovic, summarized 20 years of work the tax helped finance — including the three-phase widening of Highway 100 — and outlined a proposed 20-year renewal that would run 2030–2050 to pay for further highway capacity, safety and local infrastructure projects.

City staff said the tax was originally structured as a 25‑year, project‑tied levy that began in February 2005 and was timed to bond payments for Highway 100. “It was set up to be a 25 year term,” Stankovic said during the slide presentation, explaining why staff wants a renewal in 2026 so grant applications and multi‑year federal funding cycles can be aligned well before 2030.

The nut graf: renewing the tax before 2030 would preserve the city’s local match for federal and state grants and allow the city to apply for multi‑year grant cycles (typically four to five years) without a funding gap that could delay major projects.

In the body of the briefing, staff listed priority projects that would use renewed funds or the local match those funds buy: extending Highway 100 to Voss Spring Drive (estimated at about $33 million), continuing partnerships on Highway 47 corridor improvements, constructing portions of the East–West Parkway and High Street connection, airport runway/taxiway work, and ongoing local street paving, sidewalk ADA upgrades and trail work. Stankovic said preliminary cost estimates prepared with consulting engineers put a one‑mile segment of Highway 47 at roughly $8.6 million and the Highway 100 west extension at about $33 million.

Stankovic and others stressed the timing: major federal programs and East West Gateway grant cycles typically require a local funding commitment years before construction. “By year 4, that’s when you need to have the funds,” Stankovic said, describing why a 2026 ballot measure would let the city apply for construction funding that arrives later in the decade.

Staff presented revenue modeling showing an approximate annual program cost of $3.8 million over 2030–2050 and projected conservative 2% annual growth in sales tax receipts to estimate revenue through 2050. Current receipts from the half‑cent tax were described as roughly $2.8 million per year today; staff noted bond obligations to pay the city’s share of earlier Highway 100 work remain through 2030. If the tax is renewed, half of future receipts would no longer go to the state cost‑share bond payments and would instead be available locally or as matching funds for grants.

Committee members supported moving the proposal forward for further refinement and public outreach. Stankovic said the mayor asked committee member Sandy Lucey to help lead public education and that staff would convene a combined committee this summer to review projects and messaging before providing a formal recommendation to the council this fall. If the council approves, staff said, formal campaigning and public information would take place in 2025 and early 2026 ahead of an April 2026 ballot.

Meeting business: the committee approved minutes from its Jan. 27 meeting by voice vote; the mover and seconder were recorded in the minutes but were not identified by name in the oral roll call.

The city intends to refine cost estimates with state partners on Highway 47 and to produce public materials explaining the past results of the tax and the new program of projects if the council moves ahead with a ballot measure.