Richland forms new district, $20 car tab fee is next

The Richland City Council voted unanimously this week to establish a Transportation Benefit District, a precursor to imposing a new fee on vehicles registered in the city.

Richland officials say the new revenue will help build the Duportail Bridge and increase money for street maintenance.

The next step is to fund the district. The city wants to impose a $20 fee on the estimated 40,000 vehicles registered in Richland, starting in 2018. That would raise an estimated $850,000 annually.

The council has not set a date for a vote on the fee.

The new revenue stream would be split between paying the debt on roughly $4 million in bonds the city plans to sell to complete the funding package for the $38 million Duportail project and on street maintenance.

State money will pay for most of the Duportail bridge, but Richland estimates it is $4 million short.

Richland has committed to setting the license fee at $20 per year and to ending it after 20 years when the bonds are repaid.

The city wants to settle the funding plan for the bridge this year in order to approve the designs, hire a contractor and complete the bridge project in 2020.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Richland forms new district, $20 car tab fee is next."