With lawmakers working bills through the legislature that would expand tax authority for Transportation Benefit Districts (TBDs) it is important to explain what is wrong with them.

One of the problems with TBDs is that officials can use the revenue, most of which is paid by drivers, for non-road purposes. Cities and counties have significant unmet road infrastructure needs and any new taxes or fees paid by drivers should be tied to projects that benefit them, not to other user groups. In fact, this is how most transportation leaders justified the creation of TBDs in the first place; to give local government officials funding options to fix their streets.   

But unlike gas taxes, there is no protection that limits transportation-related fees collected from drivers, to road purposes. For example, imposing a $40 fee on drivers who own a car in King County to pay for expanding bus service for Metro is possible and undoubtedly unfair.  

Reiterating this point in a Publicola article is Sen. Curtis King saying:

… that it was unfair to tax drivers to pay for transit, and suggested that any fee for transit should have to go to a vote of the people. “You’re saying to the people that own a car, ‘You get to pay this one percent and we’re going to give the money to the transit agencies so that all the people who want to ride the buses can do it at a very low rate,” King said. “That’s not fair. That’s not equitable.”

King County officials already imposed a $20 car tab tax on drivers to fund bus service last year. This is unfair and siphons money away from fixing the road-needs of drivers. Lawmakers should restrict any taxes or fees paid by drivers to road purposes only.

You can read more about WPC’s position on a transportation funding package here:  

1. Taxes and fees paid by drivers should not subsidize other modes of transportation.
2. Do not create a state-level tax or fee to fund local transit agencies — public transit is not underfunded.
3. Stop diverting existing transportation taxes and fees to pay for non-highway purposes.