Project Profile: City of Marysville, Washington — Transportation Benefit District

City of Marysville, Washington — Transportation Benefit District

Marysville, Washington

City of Marysville, Washington

Special Assessment: Transportation Benefit District/Sales Tax Districts

Highway and Local Road, Parking, Transit, & Bicycle

A Transportation Benefit District (TBD) is an independent public entity authorized by state law to facilitate transportation improvements. TBDs are primarily funded through vehicle license fees and/or sales taxes. They can be used for the construction, maintenance, and operation costs of improvements that range from roads and transit service to sidewalks and transportation demand management.

In 2008, Marysville approved the formation of a TBD to help fund transportation projects and programs. In 2013, Marysville City Council formed a TBD to replace the transportation funding used to preserve, maintain, and expand the City’s infrastructure. The City Council proposed a 0.2-percent sales and use tax for transportation improvements, which voters approved in 2014. The tax increase will raise the sales tax rate in Marysville from 8.6 percent to 8.8 percent. It will generate enough revenue to preserve and repair City streets for a decade and keep Maryville’s tax rate lower than most cities in Snohomish County, which range from 7.7 percent to 9.6 percent.

The tax is paid by anyone who shops in Marysville and uses its streets and services. State law requires all revenue generated to be spent only on TBD-designated projects. The tax is limited to 10 years, but can be extended an additional 10 years with voter approval. The TBD also can be dissolved when the district pays off its debts and meets its responsibilities.

By the end of 2020, Marysville will have used TBD funding for five capital improvement projects:

2020 Pavement Preservation Program:

• Including updating sidewalks to be ADA-compliant, adding and repairing pavement, and restriping at four locations.

First Street Bypass

• Converting First Street into an arterial roadway to include bike lanes and a shared-use path on the south side.
• Decreasing congestion at 4th Street and Downtown with a new state highway interchange at SR 529 and I-5.

State Avenue Corridor Widening from 100th St NE to 104th Pl NE

• Widening the State Avenue corridor between 100th St. NE and 104th Pl. NE from three to five lanes.
• Proposing the replacement of the culvert at Quil Ceda Creek with a short-span bridge.

Centennial Trail Connector

• Designing an extension of the Bayview Trail near 84th St NE north to connect with the Centennial Trail at the intersection of SR 9.

Olympic View Park

• Building a regional park with a connection to the Ebey Waterfront Trail to offer parking, play area, shelter, restroom, and other amenities.

$16 million, 10 years preserve and repair Marysville's

The 0.2% sales tax increase will generate enough revenue to continue to preserve and repair Marysville's streets during the next 10 years ($16 million/$1.6 million per year

Design-Bid-Build

N/A

N/A

N/A

10 years (effective Oct. 1, 2014)

• $13.5 million, 10-year Pavement Preservation Program @ $1.35M per year
• $2.5 million, 10-year Sidewalk and Shoulder Program @ $250K per year

• TBD funds help preserve, maintain and operate the city’s previous investments in the transportation infrastructure, reduce the risk of transportation facility failure, improve safety, continue the cost-effectiveness of the city’s infrastructure investments, and continue the optimal performance of the transportation system.
• TBDs can be funded through various mechanisms, including commonly adopted options such as vehicle license fees and/or sales taxes, and less or rarely used techniques such as such as border area fuel taxes, bonds, and impact fees.
• TBDs can be used to match funding for grants, essentially at least doubling the tax raised.

• Marysville, Washington — Capital Improvement Projects
• Marysville, Washington — Marysville Voter Ballot Measure Fact Sheet 2014
• Marysville, Washington — Transportation Benefit District
• Marysville, Washington — Marysville Transportation Benefit District Official Notice of 2017 Annual Report
• Marysville Information Retrieval System — MIRS
• Marysville Transportation Benefit District
• Municipal Research and Services Center — Transportation Benefit Districts
• North County Outlook — Marysville’s First Street Bypass nearly complete

Allan Giffen
Interim Community Development Director
(360) 363-8211
agiffen@marysvillewa.gov