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EVERETT 2044 <br />COMPREHENSIVE PLAN <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 6/17/2025 <br />COMPREHENSIVE PLAN <br />TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT <br /> Page 131 <br />Options to Increase Revenue <br />Like all Washington State cities, Everett has limited dedicated transportation funding options, many of <br />which are restricted to maintaining existing facilities. Additional funding options the City may explore <br />are summarized below. <br />Local Improvement Districts (LIDs) <br />LIDs are special purpose financing mechanisms that can be created by cities to fund capital <br />improvements in specific areas. LIDs generate funds by implementing proportionate special assessments <br />on property owners that benefit from improvements. LID revenues are limited in their use to specific <br />capital projects that benefit owners in the special purpose area for which they were created. Cities are <br />authorized to form LIDs under RCW 35.43 without voter approval; however, LID formation is a complex <br />process and must first be demonstrated to be financially feasible. Additionally, if the City receives <br />protests from “property owners who would pay at least 60% of the total cost of the improvement5 the <br />LID would be dissolved. <br />Sales Tax Increase <br />The City of Everett currently levies an additional sales tax of 1.2 - 3.8% sales tax on top of the state sales <br />tax of 6.5%, amounting to a sales tax between 7.7 - 10.3%6. Washington State allows cities to charge <br />additional sales tax between 0.1-0.9%, depending on the relevant RCW, with caveats to the flexibility of <br />spending the revenue. Sales tax increases usually need to be approved directly by voters. <br />Commercial Parking Tax <br />A Commercial Parking Tax may be levied on commercial parking lots, either collected from businesses or <br />from customers at the time of sale. Currently the City of Everett has no commercial parking tax. Cities <br />are not restricted in the amount that can be levied, but use of revenues is restricted to transportation.7 <br />Limited Tax General Obligation (LTGO) Bonds and Unlimited Tax General Obligation (UTGO) Bonds <br />Bonds are tools cities can levy to borrow funds for large capital projects and pay the bond back over <br />time. Debt bears additional costs through interest, and any use of bonding capacity for transportation <br />projects reduces the remaining bonding capacity available for other city projects. Limited Tax General <br />Obligation bonds are backed by the General Fund, while Unlimited Tax General Obligation bonds are <br />backed by new taxes. <br />Cities, transportation benefit districts, and local improvement districts can issue general obligation <br />bonds by special election or council decision to finance projects of general benefit to the jurisdiction or <br />district. In addition to the principal and interest costs of issuing debt, there are usually costs associated <br />with issuing bonds, including administrative time, legal and underwriting costs, and insurance costs. <br />Reassessment Strategy <br />There are many aspects of transportation funding that are outside of the City’s control. If future project <br />funding is not as much as anticipated in this plan, there are multiple ways the City can revise its <br />approach to match the project list with available funds. The project prioritization scores can be used to <br /> <br />5 Municipal Research Services Center, “Local Improvement Districts,” last modified April 2, 2021. <br />6 https://dor.wa.gov/taxes‐rates/retail‐sales‐tax <br />7 RCW 82.80.070(3)(a‐d).