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Transportation Benefit District

About Tacoma Transportation Benefit District

On November 20, 2012, the Tacoma City Council created the Transportation Benefit District (TBD), through passage of Ordinance No. 28099, that established a TBD for the purposes of acquiring, constructing, improving, providing, and funding transportation improvements within the TBD consistent with any state, regional, or local transportation plans, and necessitated by existing or reasonably foreseeable congestion levels.

On November 27, 2012, The Tacoma Transportation Benefit District Board authorized a vehicle license fee of $20.  In June of 2013, the Washington State Department of Licensing began collecting vehicle license fees on behalf of the TBD to fund local transportation improvements within the district.  The $20 vehicle license fee generates almost $5M in a biennium (the TBD spend plan is linked below).  

 

In 2015 Tacoma residents passed Transportation Benefit District Proposition A, which permits the TBD to levy an additional sales tax of 1/10 of 1% for a period of ten years (for more information visit the Tacoma Streets Initiative webpage). Proposition A is projected to generate $4.5 million per year, or $45 million over the ten-year period. The additional funding will go towards transportation projects outlined in the Comprehensive Transportation Program including permanent pothole repair, street resurfacing, maintenance and improvements to arterials and freight access roads, installation of school crossing beacons, and building missing sidewalks. 

 

 

Agendas, Minutes and Videos on Legistar

 

What is a Transportation Benefit District?

  • In 1987, the State Legislature created Transportation Benefit Districts (TBD) as an option for local governments to fund transportation improvements.  Chapter 36.73 of the Revised Code of Washington provides for the establishment of TBD by cities and counties to levy and impose various taxes and fees to generate revenues to support transportation improvements within the district.  A TBD is a quasi-municipal corporation and independent taxing district created for the sole purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, providing, and funding transportation improvements within the district.

    In 2005 and 2007, the Legislature amended the TBD statute to expand its uses and revenue authority, including the ability to authorize a $20 annual vehicle license fee (VLF), and up to an additional $100 of VLF, if approved by voters within the district.

    The state legislature provided local governments with these tools because inflation has eroded the local share of gas tax and a series of statewide ballot initiatives passed over the last 12 years have eliminated other traditional sources of funding for local transportation needs.
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    Archived Agendas, Minutes and Videos
    Frequently Asked Questions

     

     

    Adopted 2023-24 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan
    Adopted 2021-22 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan

    Adopted 2019-20 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan
    Adopted 2017-18 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan                Amended 2015-16 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan
    Adopted 2015-16 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan
    Adopted 2013-14 Transportation Benefit District Spending Plan

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Contact Information


    (253) 591-5495
    Email


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