by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury
December 5, 2024
Washington Metropolitan area leaders favor considering a regional revenue source for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro), which faced financial challenges to maintain services at the start of the year.
However, where the funding will come from and the amount each jurisdiction will contribute to the fund is a concern regional leaders expressed at a joint meeting in the District of Columbia on Monday. Some of the potential funding mechanisms include collecting taxes from regional sales, motor fuel, vehicles and property.
Jeff McKay, chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said he and others support a uniform revenue collection system, but flexibility should be a consideration.
“If we come up with a regional system … in terms of uniform, that doesn’t necessarily conclude in my mind that the rate has to be exactly the same everywhere,” said McKay.
Monday’s discussion on developing a regional Metro funding source was part of a months-long effort to collaborate through an initiative known as DMVMoves, led by Metro and the Council of Governments.
The group also reviewed proposed scenarios that would maintain existing service levels and keep Metro efficient, reliable and consistent with repairs and maintenance throughout parts of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Leaders also broached the idea of going beyond the current services by modernizing assets and expanding to support other initiatives including investing in a bus rapid transit network.
How a regional funding source would work
Metro receives support from ridership and fare revenue. The transit agency also receives contributions from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia — members of the WMATA Compact.
Leaders in the District of Columbia and others, like McKay, said a uniform approach across the region would make it easier for Metro to forecast predicted revenue streams instead of relying on some localities from Northern Virginia and the three jurisdictions to pay their contributions separately.
However, under the proposed plan, some jurisdictions that utilize the service would be excluded from contributing to the regional funding source because they are not members of the WMATA Compact. Virginia’se Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park would be left out.
McKay didn’t mention any jurisdictions by name, but said data shows those localities outside the compact have a “tremendous” benefit in Metro ridership. He said region leaders should begin considering speaking with those jurisdictions about getting involved with financial planning.
“It’s time we start talking to the other jurisdictions that benefit [from] Metro and trying to understand how they can be a part of this moving forward, because the idea that some suburban sprawl that has been created outside of the Metro compact area that feeds into the system — and at the end of that system is a county that has a station that’s paying for those people to ride the system exclusively — doesn’t really seem to be equitable in the long term either,” he said.
Montgomery County (Maryland) Executive Marc Elrich, said the challenge moving forward with a regional sales tax is determining the appropriate amount from each jurisdiction.
“I am pretty much opposed to doing anything that lands on the residents,” Elrich said. “I think these taxes have to focus on commercial property.”
He commended Virginia and its jurisdictions in the compact on a “stunningly good job” to leverage the “myriad of taxes” to contribute to Metro, which he said is backed by a strong tax base primarily around commercial property.
Nick Donohue, principal at Capitol Transportation Consulting and one of two experts supporting the task force, provided details about the potential funding scenarios to region leaders on Monday.
Under Scenario 1, Metro would receive an increase of $480 million per year from the region to sustain existing services.
An additional $120 million would help to enhance service and grow ridership under Scenario 2. Costs would likely increase.
Actions beyond the initial scenarios to modernize Metro — such as adding new railcars, maximizing services and expanding to move more people with bus rapid transit lines, ferry services and bike share — would require additional funds.
Donohue said the figures are subject to change and are based on assumptions for future inflation, project costs, regional ridership growth and sustained commitments from funding jurisdictions.
Reconciling a regional vision, addressing funding shortfalls
In September, advisory groups associated with the task force reported that more than 80% of people surveyed in the National Capital Region said they “support more and better transit services, even if it requires higher investment by the region.”
Amid the discussion centered on developing a regional funding source, Michael Sargent, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, said he was unclear and frustrated because the task force skipped directly to funding and passed over discussing its regional vision and funding inefficiencies.
“If we don’t have an ultimate goal, I can’t evaluate how any of these steps are going to get us there, and whether that’s a good use of funding in time, or if that’s not even gonna get us close to where we’re trying to go,” Sargent said.
He said the group needs an explanation of why other metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, are getting more ridership and more service for less funding, as well as the reasoning for the difference in Metro’s capital needs estimates. Sargent said Metro estimated it needed $2.1 billion per year to keep the system on track in its 10-year capital plan.
Sargent said if members of the task force come to Virginia lawmakers without looking more closely at costs or providing evidence of need alongside estimates, and ask, “to raise taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” the success of the plan won’t be likely.
“I mean, that’s not just going to be a ‘no,’ that’s going to be a ‘hell no,’” Sargent said.
Donohue said he appreciated Sargent raising the issues facing the task force and added that the group has discussed “a lot” about the vision. He expects more discussions and answers to be provided at future meetings that will continue in January as costs are still being vetted. The task force is expected to adopt recommendations in March and the final plan in June.
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