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1. How much will the mass transit expansions cost and how will they be funded?
2. When will taxes be rolled back?
3. How did Sound Transit develop its cost projections? Are they realistic?
4. Were other tax sources considered for the plan?
5. I heard the cost of the plan is $107 billion. Is that correct?
6. How much of the Mass Transit Expansion plan will be paid for through borrowing?

1. How much will the mass transit expansions cost and how will they be funded?

   • The total cost of the package is $17.9 billion in year of expenditure dollars, including all capital, operations, maintenance, reserves and debt service from 2009 through 2023.
   • The typical new cost per adult is $69 per year. This will come from a sales tax increase of five-tenths of one percent, or five cents on a $10 retail purchase.
   • In addition to the sales tax increase, funding for the mass transit expansion package will also come from existing Sound Transit taxes, federal grants and fares.
   • The plan includes binding provisions for expediting bond repayment and rolling back the taxes.

2. When will taxes be rolled back?

   • The package features binding requirements for future rollback of the voter-approved tax increases. Sound Transit will be required to complete the projects and then reduce taxes to the level necessary to operate and maintain the system and pay associated debt service.
   • The Sound Transit 2 finance plan estimates that by 2038, the tax increase approved by voters in 2008 will not be needed and will no longer be collected.

3. How did Sound Transit develop its cost projections? Are they realistic?

   • Sound Transit applied industry best practices and all the experience gained since 1997 to estimate the costs of the proposed new projects and build a sound, reliable financial plan.
   • The cost estimates include contingencies of about 25 percent or more, as appropriate for the type of project and how far along the designs are.
   • This methodology was used to estimate the cost of light rail from downtown Seattle to the airport. Seven years later, the light rail project from downtown Seattle to the airport is more than 90 percent completed and is moving forward within the same schedule and budget that was established in 2001.
   • Cost-estimating methodologies have been rigorously reviewed by the independent, state-appointed Expert Review Panel (ERP). The ERP has evaluated Sound Transit's history and the agency's effort to incorporate lessons learned into the Sound Transit 2 planning process.

4. Were other tax sources considered for the plan?

   • Sales tax is the only major new local funding legally available to Sound Transit.
   • Board members discussed that while long term, there is growing interest in some quarters for exploring significant changes to taxes and how transportation projects are funded. Sound Transit does not have the legal authority to raise taxes from other sources.

5. I heard the cost of the plan is $107 billion. Is that correct?

   • No. Detailed information on this inaccurate claim is included in the memo linked here (PDF).

6. How much of the Mass Transit Expansion plan will be paid for through borrowing?

   • ST2's financial plan anticipates selling bonds to cover approximately $6.5 billion, or around 49 percent, of the plan's capital costs of $13.4 billion in YOE dollars.
   • This compares to buying a house with a down payment of around 51 percent. Most homeowners sign mortgages with down payments of 0 to 20 percent.