Pierce Transit Goes to Voters for First Funding Increase Since 2002
The Pierce Transit board took a major leap Monday, teeing up voters this November with a funding measure that will represent the biggest opportunity for service expansion that the South Sound has seen in decades. If approved, the ballot measure would bump the dedicated sales tax rate funding Pierce Transit from 0.6% to 0.9%, a funding stream that has been sitting unchanged since George W. Bush's first term in the White House.
Growing the transit-dedicated sales tax rate to 0.9% would bring Pierce Transit more on par with peer transit agencies like King County Metro, avoiding a potential fiscal cliff looming by the early 2030s and threatening major service cuts.
It marks the first time Pierce Transit funding has been put on a ballot since a pair of measures failed in 2011 and 2012. Those failed votes led to stagnant local transit service in and around Tacoma, even as other agencies around the region have grown.
A Pierce Transit ballot measure comes right as Seattle voters are set to be asked to increase the city's dedicated transit sales tax by 0.15%, and as leaders in Everett are considering a 0.6% increase that would come with the annexation of Everett Transit into the countywide Community Transit service area. All three proposals would bring major gains for transit riders in their respective areas.
https://www.theurbanist.org/pierce-transit-goes-to-voters-for-first-funding-increase-since-2002/