The City of Redmond may be looking for taxpayer help in 2012 to help fund parks and transportation projects. But the big question is: Will residents be in the giving mood?

City officials are considering a funding option to put a capital improvement bond for parks and transportation projects on the November 2012 ballot.

A voter-approved bond would allow the city to fill in the gaps of current projects and to address some of its big-ticket capital projects sooner than later, according to city officials. The size and scope of a possible bond measure has yet to be determined, according to Redmond Mayor John Marchione.

“We have 6-year and 20-year capital plans for all city functions,” Marchione said. “We use a variety of tax sources to fund these plans. Adding a voter-approved bond issue will allow us to tackle some larger projects sooner. The question for the community is: Is now the time?”

The city also has the option of adding a new vehicle license tab fee to help fund transportation projects, according to the city’s transportation services manager Don Cairns. This fee would be in addition to the $20 car tab fee recently approved by King County Council to fund Metro Transit services, along with the other fees on your car-tab bill.

A city vehicle tab fee is not being explored as a funding option at this time, but it is something the city may consider in the future, the mayor said.

But before any final decisions are made, residents will have a chance to voice their opinion. The City Council recently authorized an outside firm to conduct a survey of 400 registered Redmond voters sometime in mid-to-late January.

The automated phone survey will ask residents, among other questions, what city projects they would like to see funded. The survey will also gauge if voters would approve a possible tax increase or a new vehicle license tab fee from the city to help fund those projects, according to Cairns. The purpose of the survey is to help city officials “gauge voters support for accelerating the construction of parks and/or transportation projects,” Marchione said.

City staff will report the results of the survey to the Council in February, according to the mayor. From there, the Council will “use the survey data and other inputs to decide if there is enough support to go to voters in 2012 and for what specific projects,” Marchione said.

There are many current and future projects both for parks and transportation that need funding, but the specific list has not been narrowed down yet, Marchione said.

PARKS

On the parks and recreation side of things, the Redmond Pool, along with the teen, senior and community centers are outdated and will need to be renovated, expanded or rebuilt as growth continues in the city, many city officials have pointed out.

“There are a lot of options out there for re-investment in the system,” said Craig Larsen, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “Part of the point of doing this survey is that we don’t have all of the answers. We want to responsive to what the public wants to see.”

Larsen encouraged all residents who do get a phone call regarding the survey take the time to answer all the questions.

The Parks and Trails Commission has spent the last six months reaching out to community groups to gauge interest on certain projects. There was a wide range of what people wanted from adding new neighborhood parks and community trails to building a central indoor recreation facility and aquatic center.

Parks and Trails commissioners met with city council members at Tuesday’s study session to outline the scope of residents’ wants and needs, along with the funding challenge city officials face.

Mary Bourguignon, chair of the parks and trails commission, told the Council that the commission understands that the wish list of projects is greater than the money available. She went onto say that’s why the survey is so important. She said the survey results will allow city staff to prioritize those projects and create a responsible, sustainable funding package to present to voters.

“Personally, I think the plan we put forward has to be a combination of improvements with the facilities we already own as well as some new investments,” Bourguignon told council members.

Everyone at the table during Tuesday’s meeting agreed the key to getting voters to approve a funding package will be narrowing the plan down to specific projects and showing how it will benefit voters.

“Every facility we have is bursting at the seams because there is so much interest and demand,” Bourguignon said after Tuesday’s meeting. “The real challenge is how we prepare for the next generation. … It’s about making wise investments for the future and not resting on our laurels. We really need to keep investing.”

TRANSPORTATION

Just like parks, there are many transportation needs that need to be addressed as the city continues to grow, according to Cairns.

Many times parks and transportation issues are connected, especially with projects like the upcoming Redmond Central Connector, a linear trail park where both transportation and recreation needs will be addressed, said Cairns.

There are other big-ticket transportation items that need funding. As of right now, Cairns said the top three priority transportation projects are completing the conversion of the Redmond Way and Cleveland Street from one-way to two-way streets, improving and developing Northeast 116th Street in north Redmond and building an offramp from State Route 520 to 152nd Avenue Northeast.

“It’s clearly a difficult time,” Cairns said of asking voters to approve a bond measure. “The needs are there in both parks and transportation. It’s not just what are we going to do the next two or three years, but also the next 20 years. … We need to have a strategy that deals with growth over time. Right now, we are trying to gauge when would be the right time (for a voter-approved funding measure) and how much to ask for.”