Ellensburg officials discuss renewing 0.2% transit tax and widening its use to street maintenance

Ellensburg City staff and the Public Transit Advisory Committee met Jan. 21 to discuss a planned 2025 ballot measure to renew the city's 0.2% Transportation Benefit District (TBD) sales-and-use tax and whether to expand allowable uses to include street maintenance programs.

City staff opened the study session by explaining that the TBD sales tax was authorized by voters in 2016 and is scheduled to expire Sept. 30, 2026, unless renewed. "This Transportation Benefit District is traditionally used for funding transportation system improvements, like street maintenance programs," a City staff member said during the presentation, adding that Ellensburg is one of the few jurisdictions that primarily uses its TBD dollars to support a local transit program.

The discussion matters because the 0.2% rate currently brings an estimated $1.7 million a year to the city (about $800,000 per 0.1%); staff said those revenues have helped sustain Central Transit operations and fund capital improvements, including ADA-compliant bus stops. Panelists stressed grants have supplemented operating budgets and helped grow the transit fund balance in recent years, but they flagged uncertainty about the future availability of state and federal grants.

Public Transit Advisory Committee member Jim Herson said PTAC has prioritized operating an efficient, reliable system before expanding service. "We don't just spend money because we have it," Herson said. "Figure out how to do government services correctly, do them efficiently, and then you expand once you've learned how to operate properly." Herson said many parts of the city still lack frequent service and argued 30-minute headways on core routes would increase ridership and allow some households to rely on a single car.

Betsy Dunbar, a city presenter on transit history and projects, outlined achievements and near-term capital work for Central Transit: the system grew from two to five routes in 2019, added ADA paratransit, updated branding and rider technology, and plans more than two dozen bus-stop capital projects intended to make all stops ADA-compliant. Dunbar said 2024 produced the highest ridership in Central Transit's history and that the city has used grant funds for both operations and vehicle purchases; HopeSource remains the contracted operator and vehicle owner.

Council and PTAC members asked for additional data to guide any ballot question: five-year ridership trends, seasonal ridership patterns, a city map showing where boardings concentrate, peer comparisons of cities with similar population and their transit tax rates, and cost estimates for service expansions. A staff presenter said those data are gathered monthly and can be provided to council.

Staff presented three election-timing options for a renewal measure in 2025: a spring special election (ballot-filing deadlines in February), the Aug. 5 primary (scheduling deadline in May), or the Nov. 4 general election (deadline in August). They recommended proposing a renewal of the current 0.2% rate, not an increase, while broadening the ordinance language so the TBD revenue could be used for targeted transportation maintenance (for example, chip-seal street preservation) in addition to transit.

Speakers cautioned about tradeoffs. Several PTAC members supported keeping transit the primary purpose of the tax and warned that diverting a fixed share to streets could constrain plans for more frequent service. A PTAC member estimated incremental operating-and-maintenance costs for an additional route or converting hourly service to 30-minute headways at roughly $325,100 per route per year (approximate, staff said). City staff said transportation engineers estimate about $2 million per year would be a reasonable funding level to sustain local street preservation work at current needs.

Staff also discussed non-sales-tax options if voters reject renewal: a council-adopted ("councilmanic") 0.1% sales tax, vehicle license/tab fees (statutory caps discussed in general terms), drawing on transit fund balance for a limited period, or revisiting service reductions and other budget adjustments. Staff noted that the first 0.1% of TBD authority can be adopted by council but amounts beyond that require voter approval and that state law limits TBD authorizations to 10-year terms.

The meeting also touched on governance: staff said expanding the Public Transit Advisory Committee's purview to include complete-streets and transport-system investments might help coordinate priorities for any broader use of TBD funds.

No formal decision or vote was taken; the session was framed as a study discussion to gather PTAC feedback and request additional analysis and data for council consideration ahead of any ballot measure.