Centralia staff outlines $8 million in street work as city readies Transportation Benefit District renewal

City staff presented a nine‑year progress report on Centralia’s Transportation Benefit District (TBD) and asked the council to begin the process to place a 10‑year renewal on the November ballot.

The presentation, led by Andy Oian of city staff with detailed remarks from Patty Page and Brett Brodersen, laid out how the 0.02 percentage point local sales tax collected since April 2016 has been used for maintenance (60 percent) and grant‑matching/leverage (40 percent). "Without TBD, we don't fund a lot of these projects," Oian told the council, summarizing the reasoning behind the TBD when voters first approved it.

City staff said the TBD raised almost $8 million between 2016 and 2024. The money paid for routine maintenance—blade patching, chip sealing, crack sealing—while a dedicated matching fund allowed the city to leverage larger grants for reconstruction and corridor projects. Patty Page showed completed projects and said the TBD match made it possible to attract Transportation Improvement Board, federal and other grant funds that paid much of the cost of projects such as Harrison Avenue resurfacing and South Gold Street reconstruction.

Staff described how the TBD was originally split to reserve 60 percent for ongoing operations and maintenance (chip seals, crack sealing, pothole repairs, sidewalk ADA work) and 40 percent for match/leverage. Brodersen summarized the fiscal performance and said the city used TBD dollars to leverage about $6.8 million in outside grants against roughly $1.3 million in TBD match since implementation — roughly $5.25 in grant money for every TBD dollar used, staff said.

Staff gave counts of work completed since 2016: 14 lane miles of blade patching, 36 lane miles of chip sealing, 11 lane miles of crack sealing and 4 lane miles of wheel path grinding and paving. Oian highlighted a drop in citizen pothole reports and related repairs — from an average of about 6,300 pothole repairs per year (2016–2019) to about 3,100 per year (2020–2024) — which he attributed to the targeted maintenance program.

Staff reviewed a slate of projects planned or underway for 2025, including the Westside Connector (Schubert to Galvin) with sidewalks, street lighting and a multiuse path; Shubert Road (Galvin to Mount Vista); Safe Routes to Schools work at Washington and Oakview elementaries; and First Street repaving. The Westside Connector is a joint city‑county project that staff said will use $1.5 million in ARPA funds plus TBD funds to finish the project. Staff also described operational details such as using Lewis County crews for annual chip seal work and a two‑year process (blade patch then chip seal) to restore failing streets.

On renewal mechanics, staff said a renewal requires a vote of the people. City staff proposed bringing a resolution to council in May to authorize placement of a TBD renewal on the November ballot; the formal deadline to place the measure on that ballot was identified as August 5.

Councilors asked about the tax structure and limits; staff clarified the TBD is a 0.02 percentage‑point sales tax added to the city's sales tax rate (the overall local sales tax rate shown to voters may increase for other reasons such as county 9‑1‑1 levies). Several council members and staff encouraged public outreach if the council authorizes the ballot measure. Oian and Page asked for council support in promoting passage, pointing to visible neighborhood improvements the funds produced.

The workshop concluded with staff offering to hold community briefings and public tours of recent project areas to help residents see how TBD money was spent and what additional projects could be completed with another 10‑year renewal.

What’s next: staff will return with a proposed resolution in May to authorize placing a TBD renewal before voters in November; there was no council vote on the renewal at this meeting.