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 $2.25 per $1,000 of assessed value. He described MSTIP’s long‑standing practice of roughly equal allocations by commissioner district and summarized the county’s capital improvement plan, which shows transportation as the lion’s share of near‑term capital needs.

The county has been repaying prior MSTIP bonds and, Roberts said, the Board of Commissioners has authorized up to $150 million in additional bonding: roughly $60 million to finish earlier bonded projects and up to $90 million to fill a cost gap in previously promised MSTIP 3d/3e projects. County staff estimated debt service on a $150 million bond sale at about $12.5 million per year on a 20‑year schedule, but noted timing and interest rates could change the payment profile.

Roberts and other staff walked the committee through the county’s broader revenue picture. Staff described the county general fund as about $230 million in the aggregate and explained that a large share of county property tax revenue is already earmarked to MSTIP and the Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) levy. Staff warned that county departments had been asked to prepare budget reduction scenarios (10%, 13% and 17%) because of general‑fund stressors, declining shares of some state highway allocations and changing agreements with large employers that affect county receipts.

Jessica Fowles, policy analyst for the county Department of Land Use and Transportation, introduced a staff work plan to develop a resilient transportation funding strategy. She said the work will catalog potential revenue options (local fees, registration fees, local gas taxes, voter‑approved levies, urban renewal, bonds and other mechanisms), evaluate each option’s viability and return a preferred package to the Board of Commissioners for consideration later this year.

Dioni Valentine, principal transportation planner, presented the MSTIP Opportunity Fund — a county program that provides local matching dollars to help jurisdictions compete for regional, state and federal grants. Valentine summarized the fund’s history (initial $5 million allocation in 2012, subsequent top‑ups to total roughly $25.5 million), eligibility (cities and the county as primary applicants; partner organizations eligible through local sponsors), and program rules: requests come to staff, then to the technical advisory committee, then to this committee for recommendation and, when awards are secured, an intergovernmental agreement transfers funds to the successful applicant.

Valentine said the Opportunity Fund has a 54% success rate across submitted grant applications and is currently showing a typical local match leverage of about 5:1 — meaning every dollar of Opportunity Fund support has helped to attract roughly five dollars in external grant awards. Staff noted project types that have historically performed well with the fund include trails, complete‑streets projects, safe routes to school, signal and transit access improvements.

Committee members discussed regional funding options and a Metro staff proposal under consideration to bond regional flexible funds to accelerate large projects. Committee members raised several concerns: the effective cost of bonding (staff described an illustrative bond where proceeds of roughly $84 million would carry total repayment costs near $120 million), uncertainty about future federal program priorities under a new administration, whether projects at the top of the regional list match likely federal/state criteria (equity and climate), and the risk of bonding early when local or federal match is still uncertain.

Several members advocated safeguarding capacity to match large federal grants for transformational projects (for example, the TV Highway transit corridor and other regionally significant projects), while others urged caution about committing bonds now given programmatic uncertainty. Staff said Metro’s expected decision timeline is mid‑year and recommended continuing to develop bonding scenarios so the region could respond once grant criteria and funding windows are clearer.

Votes at a glance

- Election of chair: The committee nominated and elected Tim Rosa (Mayor of Sherwood) as chair by a voice/hand vote; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript. Outcome: approved.

- Election of vice chair: The committee nominated and elected a vice chair by voice vote; the vice chair was recorded in the meeting transcript only by the given name “Pete” (no last name provided). Outcome: approved.

Ending

Staff asked committee members to continue sending jurisdictional appointments and alternate names to staff so meeting rosters and materials remain current. County staff said they will return to the committee with a resilient funding strategy later in the year and will continue to use the MSTIP Opportunity Fund as a local match tool to pursue regional, state and federal grant opportunities.