Funding for viaduct questioned

Calling funding sources "speculative," three Democratic state lawmakers from Seattle have written a letter to the chairwoman of the Alaskan Way Viaduct expert-review panel expressing concern about the city's viaduct contribution.

"We have serious concerns about the viability of several funding sources outlined by the mayor of Seattle for the additional, $1 billion cost of the tunnel alternative," wrote House Speaker Frank Chopp and Reps. Mary Lou Dickerson and Helen Sommers. "Most of the sources rely on future actions such as a public vote or action by Congress or the Legislature — and the funding would not be available until these actions are taken."

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said he already has talked to the expert-review panel (ERP) about the issues raised by the lawmakers. "This just reiterates what I told the ERP," he said. "If they had raised new issues, those not put in front of the ERP by the city, then I might say this is significant. Since there is nothing new here, I don't think the letter has much significance."

Ceis in June laid out the city's viaduct-financing plan, which would call for assessing waterfront-property owners, collecting a rebate on sales tax, establishing tolls and collecting money from a proposed Regional Transportation Investment District (RTID) funding package.

"We're very concerned about the financing of transportation projects, particularly those like the viaduct," Chopp said. He said the state has appropriated enough money to replace the viaduct with another elevated structure, "but with the tunnel costing significantly more, a lot of the costs are financially insecure and risky."

Specifically, the lawmakers questioned $280 million in future federal transportation funding, saying this is the greatest amount the city could receive and it wouldn't even begin until 2011.

They questioned $800 million earmarked from the RTID, because that would depend on voter approval, and $250 million from a local-improvement district, which could be derailed by property owners. They said $177 million from a sales-tax rebate, in which sales tax on materials and labor for the project would be forgiven, could have a huge impact on the state's general fund.

Sommers said she spoke to the expert panel's chairwoman, Jane Garvey, and expressed her concerns. She, too, said the state has agreed to finance an elevated replacement for the viaduct — not a tunnel. Further, she said, any cost overruns for a tunnel should be paid by the city, not the state.

The lawmakers wrote that the money sources are speculative and could lead to significant delays in rebuilding the viaduct.

"Every delay increases the possibility of another earthquake and more damage to the structure," the lawmakers wrote. "Almost all of the proposed funding sources are future possibilities, some years ahead. We believe they are too risky to count on."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com