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Washington County staff brief WCCC on House Bill 2025 transportation package filed June 9
Summary
Washington County staff briefed the coordinating committee on House Bill 2025—a transportation funding package filed June 9 that would phase in a 15-cent gas tax increase, create a vehicle transfer tax, and expand other revenue mechanisms to fund transit and major projects.
Carly Silva Gabrielson, a government relations manager with Washington County, briefed the Washington County Coordinating Committee on June 9 about the most recent legislative vehicle for a statewide transportation package, House Bill 2025, which committee members were told had been filed that morning.
Gabrielson summarized the bill components as presented in the draft: a phased gas tax increase totaling 15 cents per gallon (10 cents in January 2026 and an additional 5 cents in 2028); a vehicle transfer tax of 2 percent on new vehicle sales and 1 percent on used vehicle sales priced over $10,000; and a continued road-user charge framework with a per-mile charge expressed in the bill as a percentage of the state gas tax (the bill text described passenger vehicles at 5% of the state gas tax per mile and commercial delivery vehicles at 10%). She also said the payroll tax contribution for transit would rise to 0.3 (up from an earlier proposal of 0.08), and that the bill establishes a set-aside pot for major “anchor” projects (the list of 2017 projects) funded at roughly $250 million per biennium while maintaining the familiar 50/30/20 distribution for remaining state highway trust funds.
Gabrielson said the bill includes ODOT accountability measures: more regular performance audits, quarterly reporting and a new oversight committee for major projects; the bill language also shifts the responsibility for appointing the transportation director to the governor in some respects. She noted the bill runs on a compressed timeline: sponsors were working toward a June 18 target (acknowledged as optimistic) and the constitutional deadline of June 29. Public hearings on the bill were scheduled the week of the briefing, with written testimony options available.
Committee members asked follow-up questions about indexing and the road-user charge equivalency for electric vehicles, whether the 50/30/20 distribution remained intact (staff said yes), and how smaller jurisdictions would continue to receive ODOT assistance; Gabrielson said she and county staff would circulate the bill text and testify and encouraged committee members to participate in hearings and submit written testimony.
