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Chehalis staff outline Transportation Benefit District finances; council sets April 13 public hearing on renewal
Summary
City staff presented the 2025 Transportation Benefit District annual report showing $7.48 million ending cash and investments and $2.73 million in revenues; council approved consent calendar setting a public hearing on April 13, 2026 at 5 p.m. for a transportation sales/use tax proposition to go on the ballot.
City staff presented the Chehalis Transportation Benefit District (TBD) 2025 annual report and the council approved setting a public hearing on a proposed transportation sales and use tax proposition.
Staff (speaker 12) said the TBD was established in 2014 and noted that voters approved a 0.2% sales tax in 2017. For 2025 staff reported beginning cash and investments of $5,974,396.10, revenues of $2,731,404.70 (including $1,497,092 in local transportation sales tax and $943,784.68 in grants), expenditures of $1,228,313.40, and ending cash and investments of $7,477,487.40.
Staff highlighted projects funded or carried over in 2025: 13th Street sidewalk and ADA curb ramp improvements (phase 2), Northwest Louisiana grind and inlay, National Avenue striping and traffic control carryover work, and the ongoing downtown rejuvenation project (where the master plan helped leverage a $4,000,000 grant). Staff said the 2025 downtown engineering investment was $42,925.24; the 13th Street project investment in 2025 was $394,848.
During public comment Mr. Cole (speaker 3) questioned whether the city was “trying to get some more taxes” and asked for specifics on what roads or sidewalks would be funded. Mayor (speaker 1) and staff responded that the resolution on the agenda would set only the public hearing date and that the proposed tax is a renewal of a voter‑approved transportation tax used to match state grants for projects on the TBD list. Staff described typical grant match rates of 80–90% for many state programs, and said larger matches are possible as projects mature.
Council approved the consent calendar, which included Resolution No. 10‑2026 setting a public hearing for April 13, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. to consider a transportation benefit district sales and use tax proposition to be submitted to voters.
Councilors asked staff to include a clearer project‑by‑project breakdown in future TBD reports showing how much outside (grant) money each TBD dollar leveraged.
