Two County Commissioners Say They Want to Pull Out of Transit Board

Two Washington County Board members said at a workshop meeting Tuesday that they support pulling out of the five-county group that uses a .25 percent sales tax to fund transit projects.

Commissioners Bill Pulkrabek, who represents Oakdale and Woodbury, and Autumn Lehrke, who represents Cottage Grove, both said they favor pulling out of the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) in an informal poll of commissioners.

The transit board pools the sales tax money from the member counties and then puts the money toward transit projects throughout the metro. Currently, estimates are that Washington County puts in more money than it gets back, with the bulk of the capital funding going to Central Corridor light rail transit, according to a presentation by Washington County Engineer Don Theisen.

Washington County contributes about 5 percent of the sales tax money, but is guaranteed to get 3 percent of the money back from 2010 to 2013. Starting in 2014, the county will be eligible to compete for larger grants, which could be as much as $78 million for Gateway Corridor light rail and $37 million for Red Rock Corridor commuter rail, according to estimates Theisen presented based on the most expensive options for transit in the two corridors.

Lehrke and Pulkrabek both expressed doubts that the county would ever see a return on its investment.

“If you really believe that in 2017 CTIB is going to be putting $116 million into Washington County—I think there’s a better chance of the Stillwater bridge being built,” Pulkrabek said.

He said he has been against membership in CTIB since before the county joined in 2008, and with Lehrke joining the board this year, he wanted to bring the issue up for a vote again.

Lehrke said she opposes membership in the board because she thinks transit improvements could be achieved in a cheaper way than with rail, such as busing.

Commissioners Gary Kriesel, Dennis Hegberg and Lisa Weik said they support continuing to collect the tax and be part of the board.

Kriesel said the commissioners who are suggesting pulling out of CTIB and seeking cheaper transit options need to think more long term.

“We can get into a whole bunch of what ifs,” Kriesel said. “This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. What we’re doing today, we might not see the full benefit for 50 years.”

To pull out of CTIB, the county would have to give a minimum of three years notice, plus payment of its share of the debt issued, which is about $8 million, Theisen said. This means if the tax came in at the current rate, the county would have to keep collecting the tax for about five years after it decided to pull out, he said.

Weik said at this point, she sees staying in the group as the best way to protect the investment taxpayers have already made, and secure the greatest return on investment.