Res 11-604RESOLUTION NO. 11-604
A RESOLUTION of the City Council of the City of Federal Way,
Washington, Opposing a Delay in Constructing Sound Transit Light
Rail to S. 272" Street.
WHEREAS, Federal Way is one of the largest and most transit-dependent cities in South
King County, with the most well-used transit routes and highest demand in Sound Transit's South
King subarea; and
WHEREAS, Federal Way is in the middle of a major regional traffic corridor where Sound
Transit's own data predicts transit demand will increase 180 percent in the near future, which is the
second largest increase forecast for the entire Puget Sound region; and
WHEREAS, Federal Way is an integral part of a regional vision to connect Tacoma, Seattle,
and Everett, a vision that helped promote the successful "Sound Move" ballot measure in 1996 to
start Sound Transit service; and
WHEREAS, Federal Way is the largest city in the region without any form of high-capacity
rail service; and
WHEREAS, the transit center in Federal Way was sized for light rail transit and is already at
full capacity, showcasing the need for public transportation; and
WHEREAS, the City's Comprehensive Plan is based upon increased density around transit in
order to fulfill regional and countywide planning goals; and
WHEREAS, Federal Way is a major hub of affordable housing; a highly diverse community
with 1121anguages spoken in the Federal Way School District; and a community with a substantial
population of lower-income working-class residents, as evidenced by the fact that 53 percent of the
School District students qualify for free or reduced schoal lunches; and
Resolution No. 11-604 Page 1 of 5
WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 08-524 supporting Sound Transit's
vision of constructing light rail to and through Federal Way, connecting to areas as far south, north,
and east as Lakewood, Everett, and Redmond; and
WHEREAS, the City Council urged the Sound Transit Board to submit a ballot measure for
the ST2 Plan to provide adequate funding at 0.5 percent sales tax to fully implement this vision; and
WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution 08-528 urging Sound Transit to ensure that
the ST2 Plan contained a S. 272 Street terminus for Light Rail, combined with preliminary
engineering and design and strategic right-of-way acquisition for Light Rail continuing all the way to
Tacoma; and
WHEREAS, the explanatory statement accompanying the ballot title for the ST2 Plan on the
November 4, 2008, election specifically stated that "Light rail extensions will provide frequent
service on exclusive track between employrnent and residential centers, including Northgate,
Shoreline, Lynnwood, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Des Moines, and Federal Way"; and
WHEREAS, the voters approved the November 4, 2008, ballot agreeing to a 0.5 percent sales
tax increase to fund the ST2 program, which included light rail to S. 272 Street on the northern
boundary of Federal Way; and
WHEREAS, based on the promise of light rail transit coming to their northern doorstep, a
majority of Federal Way voters supported the ST2 ballot measure; and
WHEREAS, collection of the 0.5 percent sales tax increase commenced on April 1, 2009;
and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that the citizens of Federal Way have paid approximately
$12,009,348 for the ST2 program thus far, and will pay approximately $240 million over the life of
the bonds funding the ST2 program, which includes light rail to Federal Way; and
Resolution No. I1-604 Page 2 of 5
WHEREAS, Sound Transit announced in May 2011, that Light Rail to Federal Way was
projected to be delayed beyond 2023 due to budgetary constraints; and
WHEREAS, a representative from Sound Transit confirmed for the City Council on May 17
that the South King County Subarea was the only subarea in the ST2 program that was designated for
Light Rail project expansion and will not receive it -- meaning that the other subareas would have
their Light Rail projects built by 2023; and
WHEREAS, Sound Transit's subarea equity policy only addresses the source of revenue, not
the source of riders or the size of the sub-area population; and
WHEREAS, the proposed delays would leave Federal Way as the largest city in the region
without any form of high-capacity rail service; and
WHEREAS, the planned 600,000 service hour reduction in King County Metro service will
increase the number of riders on Sound Transit between Federal Way and Seattle.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council strongly opposes delaying light rail to Federal Way to 2034 or
later when the citizens have alreadypaid approximately $12 Million Tax Dollars since April l, 2009,
and will pay an estimated $240 million in taxes over the life of the bonds funding the ST2 program
to fund light rail.
Section 2. The City is reviewing legal options to enforce the ballot measure Sound Transit
presented to the voters on the November 2008, election to specifically bring light rail to Federal
Way.
Resolution No. 11-604 Page 3 of�5
Section 3. The City Council strongly urges that if a reduction in Light Rail project expansion
is to occur, Sound Transit should equitably reduce that pro�am across all five subareas, which might
include source of ridership, population and socio-economic profile.
Section 4. The City Council strongly urges Sound Transit to consider the following options
to provide sufficient cost savings to make the extension of Light Rail to S. 272 Street more
affordable:
(1) Consider a light-rail alignment along I-5 instead of an elevated alignment along
SR 99, which would also improve ridership by improving travel times and
reducing operating costs;
(2) Increase flexibility in Sound Transit's sub-area equity policies to reflect the
source of ridership in addition to the source of revenue;
(3) Assure that financial projections assume reduced bidding costs and other project
cost reductions commensurate with the reduced revenue projections;
(4) Reexamine the cost-effectiveness of the various lines of service provided by
Sound Transit, and invest limited resources in those that minimize capital and
operating costs per rider.
(5) Use inter-subarea borrowing between the South King and Pierce County subareas
to make Light Rail to S. 272 Street more feasible — a strategy that was already
going to be utilized far ST2.
Section 5. Severabilitv. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this resolution should be
held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section, sentence,
clause or phrase of this resolution.
Resolution No. I1-604 Page 4 of S
Section 6. Corrections. The City Clerk and the codifiers of this resolution are authorized to
make necessary corrections to this resolution including, but not limited to, the correction of
scrivener/clerical errors, references, resolution numbering, section/subsection numbers and any
references thereto.
Section 7. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effective date
of this resolution is hereby ratified and affirmed.
Section 8. Effective Date. This resolution shall be effective immediately upon passage by
the Federal Way City Council.
RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
WASHINGTON this 24th day of May, 2011.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
MAYOR, IP PRIEST
ATTEST:
1
i
CITY CLERK, CAR L MCN ILLY, CMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
�Gi�� Lf". ����.�
CITY ATTORNEY, PATRICIA A. RICHARDSON
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 5-20-2011
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: 5-24-2011
RESOLUTION NO.: 11-604
Resolution No. I I-604 Page 5 of 5