City presents 10-year Transportation Benefit District report; staff point to $11.75M local funds leveraged into $26.75M in projects

Capital Projects Manager Frank Reinhart presented the Transportation Benefit District (TBD) annual report and a 10-year retrospective at the July 22 council meeting, describing how the TBD's 0.2% sales-and-use tax, adopted in 2016 and collected starting in 2017, has been used to deliver local transportation projects and to leverage state and federal grants.

"We used $11,750,000 in transportation benefit district funds generated by that sales and use tax ... and an almost equal number of state and federal grant sources to deliver to the city about $26,750,000 in transportation improvements," Reinhart said. He summarized results including about 13 miles of overlay projects (by centerline width measure), roughly 436 ADA ramp upgrades, several major intersection projects and use of TBD funds as local match on larger federally funded projects.

Reinhart outlined recent and ongoing uses: pavement preservation, match funding for design work, lighting and ADA transition planning studies, roundabout and interchange improvements tied to grant-funded work, and a five-year pavement preservation plan intended to improve project delivery. Council members thanked him and asked clarifying questions about the program's role in enabling projects the city otherwise could not afford.

Council discussion noted the TBD's role in accelerating projects and leveraging external grants; Reinhart characterized its contribution as allowing faster and larger-scale delivery, while warning that the city should be cautious about using TBD funds for extended design-only slips rather than construction delivery. The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken beyond questions and acknowledgement.