SB 6140 - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 2ND SUB)

     Creates the central Puget Sound congestion relief board to include the following legislative districts: 38, 21, 1, 44, 32, 46, 45, 36, 43, 48, 34, 11, 37, 41, 33, 47, 5, 30, 25, and 31.

     Declares that a congestion relief board shall be entitled to state funding from the motor vehicle fund in an amount of up to one million dollars as start-up funding to pay for salaries, expenses, overhead, supplies, and similar expenses ordinarily and necessarily incurred in selecting highway improvement projects and funding for those projects under this chapter.

     Provides that, upon approval of a referendum on the projects and the financing pursuant to this act, the board shall reimburse the motor vehicle fund for any sums advanced for these start-up costs from the state.

     Declares that a congestion relief board is empowered to institute and collect the following local taxes within its geographic boundaries:

     (1) A local option regional sales tax of up to 0.5 percent;

     (2) A local option vehicle license fee of up to seventy-five dollars per vehicle;

     (3) A local option motor vehicle fuel tax of up to six cents per gallon; and

     (4) A local option commercial vehicle charge of up to one hundred fifty dollars per commercial vehicle.

     Taxes shall not be imposed without a vote of the people within the boundaries of the congestion relief board on a referendum as set forth in this act.

     Requires a board to apply the following benchmarks when choosing congestion relief projects by selecting highway improvement projects that move towards the following benchmarks:

     (1) Traffic congestion on urban interstate highways does not exceed the national mean for interstate highways;

     (2) Driver delay in metropolitan areas does not exceed the national mean for metropolitan areas;

     (3) The number of traffic accidents on systems throughout the state continues to decline;

     (4) Air quality is maintained at federally required levels;

     (5) Freight mobility is accommodated within the transportation system; and

     (6) Overall hours of travel delay per person in congested corridors are reduced to and maintained at reasonable levels.