Drafter
Clerk 04/25/2014
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AN ORDINANCE adopting public transportation service reductions in September 2014, February 2015, June 2015 and September 2015 scheduled service changes.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Transit division ("Metro") service is funded mainly by sales tax, and due to the inherently unstable and variable nature of that funding source, the amount of operating funds available from that source varies with the health of the economy. The economic downturn that started in 2008 and resultant decline in sales tax revenues caused a projected shortfall in Metro's operating funds of about $1.2 billion for the years 2009 through 2015.
2. Since 2009, Metro has undertaken a series of actions to address the revenue shortfall, including increasing system-wide operating efficiencies, use of one-time reserve funds, and generation of new revenue, resulting in approximately $800 million in cost savings and additional resources and closing the financial gap by approximately $148 million annually. Although the worst of the recession has passed and sales tax revenue is currently on an uptick, the economy has not recovered enough to generate the sustained sales tax revenues needed to close this financial gap.
2. A temporary funding source, the congestion reduction charge, was authorized by the state Legislature and approved by the county council in 2011, through Ordinance 17169. The intent of this legislation was to help address transit revenue shortfalls during the economic downturn and allow King County Metro to continue reducing congestion on some of the state's most crowded highways.
3. With the imminent expiration of the temporary congestion reduction charge in June 2014 and the prior drawdown of its reserve funds, Metro faces a significant annual shortfall equaling approximately 550,000 annual hours of transit service.
4. To close the annual budget gap, Metro is proposing to reduce 550,000 annual hours of transit service over the course of ...

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