Recently the City Manager presented a rough plan to the City Council to move forward on a streetcar system and the ball is back in the council’s hands for the time being.

One of the big questions being discussed is how we would fund a system both in terms of capital infrastructure and ongoing operating costs.  Unfortunately the State Legislature controls what local taxing options can be implemented to fund transportation infrastructure improvements.  Basically, there are the major options the City of Tacoma has at its disposal right now to fund a streetcar network.  Any other funding sources would require legislative approval, which would be quite a difficult process to undergo.

1.      Commercial Parking Tax-Tacoma has no commercial parking tax.  Seattle, Seatac, Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Mukilteo and Tukwila all utilize this mechanism.  All of the money raised from this tax could go to a streetcar network.  The City of Bremerton, which is noticeably smaller than Tacoma raises $399,703 a year.  Seattle is projected to raise $3,662,000 per year.

2.      Raise Pierce Transit’s Tacoma area sales tax rate to .9%. Right now they are operating at .6% would raise a huge amount of transit dollars to help build and operate a streetcar system.

3.      LID-Create business district LIDs around streetcar lines so the businesses who will boom the most from the system help contribute to the capitol costs.  This option is the primary funding source for the South Lake Union Line in Seattle.

4.      Innovative public-private partnerships-For example, the Portland streetcar has stops that are sponsored by businesses nearby.  They pay an annual fee for a huge amount of name recognition by having a streetcar stop named after them.

If it was decided that Pierce Transit was going to build and operate Tacoma Streetcar and fund it partially with a sales tax increase, they would somehow have to create a smaller citywide taxing district within their county taxing authority.  This has not been done elsewhere in the state but I don’t think it is legally out of the questions.  That said; it would probably be an issue that the lawyers would have to look into.

The current funding options available are limited in nature, but many of them provide possibilities that have not been discussed publicly by the city.  Some at city hall believe that more giant parking garages around the city perimeter are the answer to funding streetcars and further revitalizing downtown.  Anyone who has studied Tacoma history or walked down Pacific Ave. knows that parking garages do not create urban renewal, economic revitalization, or integrated neighborhoods.  The proposed Tacoma Streetcar will do all of these things and is valid in its own right.  Why should our eco-friendly revitalizing streetcars be dependent on car-centric blighting parking garages? There are better funding options at the city’s immediate disposal.