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AN ORDINANCE revising the transportation benefit district boundaries and purposes in accordance with chapter 36.73 RCW; amending Ordinance 16742, Section 3, and K.C.C. 2.121.010 and Ordinance 16742, Section 6, and 2.121.020 and adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 2.121.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Chapter 36.73 RCW authorizes a county to create a transportation benefit district consisting of just the unincorporated areas of the county and authorizes such a transportation benefit district to impose, by a majority vote of the district's governing board, up to twenty dollars of the vehicle fee, authorized by RCW 82.80.140.
2. Ordinance 16742, amended K.C.C. Title 2 and created the King County Transportation Benefit District.
3. Ordinance 16742 stated an intent to re-evaluate the appropriateness of the transportation benefit district's boundaries before the governing board of the transportation benefit district votes to impose any vehicle fee on residents in order to determine whether annexations occurring after formation of the transportation benefit district but before the imposition of a vehicle fee should affect the boundaries of the created transportation benefit district territory.
4. Since Ordinance 16742 was adopted and signed, several annexations have changed the boundaries of unincorporated King County.
5. K.C.C 2.121.010 defines the boundaries of the King County transportation benefit district as the "geographical boundaries comprised of the unincorporated limits of the county," and the county desires to make clear that the boundaries of the transportation benefit district change as the boundaries of unincorporated King County change.
6. Funding for improvement of the transportation infrastructure in the county has been dramatically reduced in recent years due to declining revenues from property taxes and the state motor fuel tax and decreases in available state and federal grant funding. At the same time, transportation maintenance, safety, preservation and other needs are increasing due to aging infrastructure, population growth, land development and changing travel patterns.
7. The county continues to need to improve and maintain transportation infrastructure to prevent an overall decline in the condition, structural integrity and safety of its transportation system, and to facilitate the movement of people, goods and services throughout the region.
8. The transportation plan of the county includes the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan, the Transportation Needs Report, the Strategic Plan for Road Services, the Roads Operational Master Plan phase I, the Roads CIP and other such transportation plans as may be adopted by the county.
9. Since 2010, the financial picture and the state of transportation infrastructure has shifted, and so should the list of projects and programs eligible for transportation benefit district funding.
10. A twenty-dollar vehicle license fee assessed by the King County Transportation Benefit District will generate more than four million dollars for transportation maintenance, operations and improvements in King County.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 16742, Section 3, and K.C.C. 2.121.010 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
There is created a transportation benefit district, to be known as the King County Transportation Benefit District, with geographical boundaries comprised of the unincorporated limits of the county as they exist on the effective date of this ordinance or as they may exist following future annexations or incorporations, which shall have the authority to exercise the statutory powers in chapter 36.73 RCW.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 16742, Section 6, and K.C.C 2.121.020 are each amended to read as follows:
The King County Transportation Benefit District is formed for the purpose of facilitating transportation improvements, as defined in RCW 36.73.015(6), ((listed in Attachment A to Ordinance 16742)) as specified by motion annually by the governing board of the King County Transportation Benefit District.
NEW SECTION. SECTION 3. There is hereby added to K.C.C. chapter 2.121 a new section to read as follows:
The moneys generated by the transportation benefit district may be used for any purpose allowed by chapter 36.73 RCW. The transportation improvements paid for by the district shall be made in an effort to protect the county's long term investments in its infrastructure, to reduce the risk of transportation facility failure, to improve safety, to continue optimal performance of the infrastructure over time, to avoid more expensive infrastructure replacements in the future and to improve modal connectivity within the county.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any one provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
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10 days prior, official paper
Publish: Wednesday, October 17th
Hearing: 11/5/12