While the Seattle City Council reviews the mayor’s proposal to double the sales-tax share that buys more bus service from King County, their counterparts have just voted to approve a separate sales-tax increase to raise money for road repairs. The King County Council, meeting as the County Transportation District Supervisors, voted in favor of “a new 0.1% sales tax for King County that will raise approximately $100 million annually, with 87.5% dedicated to long-overdue investments in King County Roads,” according to the post-vote announcement. The rest would go to King County cities, Seattle included. But White Center and other unincorporated areas – in which the county is accountable for 1,500 miles of roads – will be the main beneficiaries.
Unlike the City of Seattle’s proposed sales-tax increase for transit, this county sales tax does not require voter approval. It will be collected starting January 1, 2027. Today’s yes votes included our area’s King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who said in a statement:
… Today’s action provides much needed relief for unincorporated roads, bike lanes and sidewalks to be built on the horizon. Whether a person is driving a vehicle, riding the bus, walking, rolling or biking – we all deserve to be safe and protected from undo injury or death due to failing roads infrastructure. Today’s vote keeps the majority of funding focused on investments in unincorporated areas while also investing in the transportation needs of our regional cities – creating a more connected, safe and accessible transportation infrastructure across our region. The measure also calls for the County to continue to pursue a robust Transit measure to complement this investment in roads with additional alternative modalities to driving.”
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