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Council debates scope and timing of renewing transportation benefit district funding for transit and streets
Summary
Councilmembers and staff discussed whether to seek voter renewal of Ellensburg’s transportation benefit district, how to split or expand its revenue for transit versus street/pedestrian needs, and the budget risks of relying on grants to sustain transit operations.
Ellensburg City Council held an extended discussion about the future of the city’s Transportation Benefit District (TBD) funding and how it should be used to support transit operations and the broader transportation system.
Staff framed the item as a policy decision the council should consider in the context of a structural deficit in the general fund and upcoming expiration of the current TBD authorization. “The intent is and was to continue to fund both of our, to continue our service levels with transit, and to look to the future for how we can continue to expand those,” City Manager Heidi Baron Stornoway told the council while outlining budget pressures and the role of the TBD. Staff reminded the council that the existing TBD authorization—voted in April 2016—expires Sept. 30, 2026, and that state law allows municipalities to use up to 0.3 percent sales…
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