A regional committee that controls transportation spending in the Portland area today approved spending additional money to fill a budget hole for the Milwaukie light rail project. After an hour of heated discussion, the panel also agreed to borrow $12 million to speed public transit planning in two more corridors.
With the unanimous vote by the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation, the region will borrow against an expected $2 million to $3 million a year in Regional Flexible Funds to generate $27.4 million for the Milwaukie project, $6 million for planning mass transit between Portland and Lake Oswego and $6 million for planning along the Oregon 99W/Barbur Boulevard corridor. That adds to $72.5 million already allocated to the Milwaukie project from the flexible funds program, and helps make it possible for construction to start next summer.
“This will deliver construction jobs, frankly, when the region needs them the most,” TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane said.
TriMet estimates the Milwaukie project will generate about 14,000 construction jobs.
“There’s no other almost-a-billion-dollar package coming to this region,” said Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette, who chairs the committee.
TriMet is still scrambling to meet a Sept. 30 deadline to decide on a combination of cuts and new money to make up for a smaller than expected federal commitment. The Federal Transit Administration recently said it would pay for 50 percent of the construction cost, down from the typical 60 percent federal match on MAX projects.
Two dollars of project costs must be cut for every dollar of local revenue not raised toward the shortfall to account for the 50 percent federal match formula. McFarlane said that explains the need to raise more money for the project, in addition to cutting project elements, such as parking garages.
“You cannot cut your way to a rebalanced project,” McFarlane said.
There was widespread support among JPACT members for helping the Milwaukie project. But several members expressed concern about adding the money for corridor planning to the bonds for construction of the Milwaukie line. Susie Lahsene, representing the Port of Portland on the committee, asked for assurance that the borrowing would not decrease flexible funds program money available in the future for active transportation and green economy/freight projects.
“What happens is, we make a long term commitment and then it’s hard to roll it back in any way, shape or form,” Lahsene said.
Metro planner Andy Cotugno said the borrowing would not affect the money available for active transportation and green economy/freight programs recently approved for 2014-15. In 2016, the bond payments for Milwaukie and the corridor plans would increase from $2 million a year to $3 million a year. That would be paid for through expected growth of the flexible funds program nationally – not through cuts to the local programs, Cotugno said.
Lahsene sought to add language to the JPACT resolution clarifying that the bonds should not diminish money available for the other programs. After considerable discussion, Metro’s legal and planning staff said they worried that such language would lead the bond market to charge higher interest rates for the debt, out of concern that there would be less money available to pay the future bondholders.
In the end, Lahsene’s amendment failed for lack of a second.
The corridor plans are important to help address congestion on the Interstate 5 corridor, said Clackamas County Chair Lynn Peterson. Speeding up the corridor plans will help them compete for federal money in the future.
“To continue the momentum,” Peterson said. “That’s really important.”
Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury said she supported the Milwaukie line funding. But while most flexible funds projects are put through extensive discussion and public meetings, the idea of borrowing money to pay for corridor planning has just emerged in the last few weeks.
“We’ve rushed through this,” Kafoury said. “It doesn’t look great to the public. I don’t see the urgency of pushing all these things through.”
The public is rightly concerned, she said, about continuing to plan new light rail projects when bus and MAX operations have faced recession-induced budget cuts. She said she voted for the plan in the end because she saw no point in casting the sole no vote, or being part of a small minority voting against the plan.