HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 08/13/2019 - LARIMER COUNTY PROPOSED REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION ANDATE:
STAFF:
August 13, 2019
Chad Crager, PDT Interim Deputy Director
WORK SESSION ITEM
City Council
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Larimer County Proposed Regional Transportation and Facilities Tax for November 2019 Ballot.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this work session is a status update to Council on the proposed Larimer County regional
transportation and County facility tax for the upcoming November 2019 ballot.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
This is an opportunity for Council to provide feedback and ask questions directly of the Larimer County staff.
1. Is Council supportive, neutral, or opposed to the upcoming Larimer County regional tax initiative?
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
The City of Fort Collins has collaborated with Larimer County and other local agencies since early 2018 on a
countywide project to develop regional transportation solutions. A list of projects was generated that would compete
for funding as a result of the proposed Larimer County Regional Tax Initiative. There are 43 projects on the list from
across the County and they were evaluated and prioritized based on five criteria:
Connectivity. Does the project complete a link between communities or between major corridors?
Multimodal. Would the project improve accommodation for multiple travel modes?
Congestion relief. Would the project address an existing congestion problem?
Safety mitigation. Would the project address a documented safety problem?
Project Reach. How wide-reaching is the project and how many people would be impacted by the project?
COUNTY MODIFICATIONS
City staff recognizes the need to work with regional partners to find solutions to transportation issues. While City
staff had significant initial concerns about the structure of the proposed County Tax, in the last month the County
has made changes to the proposed tax to address these concerns, including:
(1) Flexibility of the project list. The project list now allows the County and the communities in advance and get
reimbursement.
Connectivity 25%
Multimodal 15%
Congestion Relief 25%
Safety Mitigation 25%
Project Reach 10%
100%
Criteria Weighting
August 13, 2019 Page 2
(2) Transit funding. The proposed County tax now includes 15% - 20% (approximately $150M - $200M over the
life of tax) for regional transit funding.
STAFF CONCERNS
City staff has the remaining concerns:
(1) Inequitable distribution of projects. It is projected that 52% of sales tax receipts from this proposal will be
collected within the City of Fort Collins. Approximately 30% of the distribution would be within the city limits.
Nearby projects have indirect benefit to Fort Collins, but do not make up the difference.
(2) Flexibility to address changes in local and regional priorities. Although significant flexibility has been added to
the process, new projects will need to be ranked against the original criteria only the highest ranked projects
can be substituted. New types of innovative projects may not be eligible.
(3) Most Fort Collins projects will receive funding beyond 2030. Due to the “cash only” nature of the proposed tax,
project funding is determined by project ranking. Most Fort Collins projects won’t receive funding until 2030 or
beyond.
(4) Unknown transit distribution and eligibility. The County is working on the proposed transit distribution, but it has
not been finalized.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Regional Transportation Infrastructure Projects Map (PDF)
ATTACHMENT 1