Can higher taxes save Everett Transit, alleviate traffic?
Everett’s city-run bus service is heading to a crossroads.
Everett Transit’s financial challenges over the past few years are no secret. In just a handful of years spending could exceed revenue, and that becomes increasingly likely in a decade.
That’s because money for transit from sales tax, even as the percentage overall has increased on purchases in Everett, has been flat or declined. Part of the reason is that a funding mechanism built from a small portion of sales tax receipts is subject to market changes. Everett’s economy has been rocked by the loss of brick-and-mortar businesses and customer spending online. The city transit system relies on sales tax for about 80% of its revenue, which is needed to pay for its $30 million budget.
Everett launched its Rethink Transit outreach and planning process to see what people are willing to part with: more money to keep Everett Transit in city hands or through a merger with Community Transit, or transit service.
The three options presented by Rethink Zoning are:
Growth through a voter-approved sales tax lift from 0.6% to 0.9%. That’d be an increase from $0.06 to $0.09 on a $10 purchase
Growth through a merger with Community Transit. That’d be a bump from 0.6% to 1.2%, or up to $0.12 on a $10 purchase
Keep things as they are now, with no new revenue.
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