Washington County coordinating committee reviews MSTIP funding outlook, Opportunity Fund awards and elects chair

Mayor Tim Rosa will serve as chair of the Washington County Coordinating Committee after a voice vote during the meeting; the committee also selected a vice chair by voice vote.

The meeting’s main focus was a multi‑hour briefing on the county’s Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program, local transportation funding streams, and a staff presentation on the MSTIP Opportunity Fund — a county program that provides local match to help jurisdictions win state and federal grants. Steven Roberts, director of Washington County Land Use & Transportation, led the MSTIP overview and placed the program in the context of county budget pressures and a recently approved county bond authorization.

Roberts said MSTIP has funded more than $1 billion in county transportation projects since 1986 and noted that MSTIP 3f — the current funding cycle — totals about $250 million. He told the committee MSTIP 3f includes roughly $195 million in named projects, a dedicated opportunity fund and a new large‑project match allocation intended to help leverage major federal or state grants. The county’s annual transfer to MSTIP from the general fund is currently “just around $15 million per year,” Roberts said, and he described rapid construction cost escalation as a primary reason the most recent cycles are funding fewer projects than in prior years.

Roberts reviewed the program’s history under state tax constraints created by Measure 5 and Measure 50, explained how the MSTIP levy amounts were rolled into the county’s base property tax rate in the late 1990s, and said Washington County’s total property tax rate currently is about…