Transportation tax to voters

The City of Shelton's Transportation Benefit District tax, passed by voters in 2015, is set to expire and the Shelton City Council on Tuesday night gave final approval to put a proposed extension of the tax before voters on the Aug. 5 primary election ballot.

The council gave the move preliminary approval at its April 1 meeting.

In May 2015, the then-Shelton City Commission established the Shelton Transportation Benefit District to provide a funding mechanism for transportation improvements that preserve, maintain and operate the planned and/or existing transportation infrastructure. The TBD board called for a special election on Nov. 3, 2015, for the authorization of sales and use tax of 0.2% for the purpose of financing all or part of the costs associated with transportation improvements in the district.

That sales-and-use tax expires in February 2026, with the last collection distributed by the city in April 2026.

The existing sales-and-use tax of 0.2% generates about $740,000 annually. The adopted 2025 street fund expenditure budget is $2,377,749.

If voters approve the tax extension, the sales-and-use tax will be in effect for a decade.

Council member Miguel Gutierrez recommended that the measure be amended to collect a sales-and-use tax of 0.3% to better support street projects. But none of the other council members seconded the motion so no vote was taken.

The money can be used on:

■ Projects identified in the city's yearly adopted Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan.

■ Modeling of the transportation system capacity and pavement maintenance.

■ Sidewalk, street and alley repair, and maintenance.

■ Projects identified in the 2024 Pavement Condition Assessment Report, or as amended, such as crack sealing, road overlays and chip sealing.

■ Offset costs for public works street operation and maintenance division budgets.

■ Projects identified in the 2025 Transportation Plan, or as amended.

■ Projects identified in the 2025 Transportation Comprehensive Plan, or as amended.

■ Use of matching money to leverage state and federal transportation grant opportunities.

■ City-wide transportation safety and right-of-way improvement projects.

■ Improvements to the city multimodal bike/pedestrian connectivity, including critical pedestrian route projects.

■ Use funds in house and/or in partnership with Mason County to resurface residential roads.