[CCCNFBW] from The Columbian: Reduce, maintain or grow? C-Tran lays out scenarios for sales tax, level of service

[Merribeth Greenberg]

Reduce, maintain or grow? C-Tran lays out scenarios for sales tax, level of
service
Official tells Clark County Council hike from current 0.7% sales tax to 0.9
needed to maintain 2030 level of service through 2045
Photo of Kelly Moyer
By Kelly Moyer, Columbian Staff Reporter
Published: November 7, 2026, 11:00am
Updated: November 9, 2026, 9:00am
Reduce, maintain or grow? C-Tran lays out scenarios for sales tax, level of
service - The Columbian
<https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/nov/07/reduce-maintain-or-grow-c-tran-lays-out-scenarios-for-sales-tax-level-of-service/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=Morning+Briefing>

C-Tran leaders say riders could see “substantially” reduced services over
the next 20 years if the Clark County transit agency cannot increase its
sales tax revenues.

Taylor Eidt, C-Tran’s director of planning and service delivery, recently
told Clark County councilors that the agency’s current 0.7 percent sales
tax collection rate, which funds roughly 76 percent of C-Tran’s operations,
will need to go up to at least 0.9 percent to maintain its 2030 level of
services through 2045.

“Maintaining that existing 0.7 percent sales tax level will require us to
cut services fairly substantially, likely around 20 to 25 percent of our
existing service levels,” Eidt told county councilors.

Those cuts would impact most of C-Tran’s existing routes, he said.

“Most routes would have either a reduction in days of the week — some that
operate seven days a week now may go down to five days a week — a reduction
in service hours or a reduction in frequency, with some routes that operate
every 30 minutes today going to once every hour or two hours,” Eidt said.

C-Tran staff have included three possible scenarios in the long-range
C-Tran 2045 transportation plan they will present to the transit agency’s
board of directors on Tuesday.

The cuts are included in the “reduce” scenario. Securing voter approval for
a 0.9 percent sales tax, the “maintain” scenario, would hold C-Tran’s
services steady through 2045.

The agency’s ambitious “growth” scenario would require voter and
legislative approval to bring C-Tran’s sales tax rate up to 1.1 percent.
Under that plan, Eidt said “almost all routes in C-Tran’s network would see
some level of improvement.”

A 0.9 percent sales tax would maintain routes but would not allow the
agency to improve services or adjust to accommodate new areas of growth in
the county.

Taking the tax rate up to 1.1 percent, however, would open a host of
possibilities.

“All routes would run seven days a week and we could respond to new
development, infill development and new, significant destinations,” Eidt
said.

Under the “growth” scenario, for instance, C-Tran would be able to add a
route that would connect the Salmon Creek and Orchards areas; create
another route running between downtown Ridgefield and downtown Battle
Ground; expand paratransit services throughout the county and add new and
expanded services that would connect riders to regional multimodal hubs
such as the Vancouver Amtrak station and Portland International Airport.

A 1.1 percent sales tax would allow the agency to upgrade its bus shelters
to make them safer and more comfortable, Eidt said, and invest in
infrastructure to benefit disabled riders.

“Today, we’re at about 66 percent ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act
compliance), so we still have some work to do to bring our actual bus stop
locations up to ADA compliance throughout the network,” he said.

Clark County Council Chair Sue Marshall, a member of the C-Tran board, said
any decisions about sales tax rates in the future are subject to voter
approval.

County Councilor Glen Yung likened the need for a higher sales tax rate to
maintain services to the county’s ongoing cost-escalation battle.

“It’s similar to what we’re experiencing here, at the county,” Yung said.
“The expenses just to provide the same level of service are increasing
faster than the sales tax revenues.”

Yung and Councilor Wil Fuentes both signaled support for the long-range
transit plan during the council’s Oct. 28 meeting. Councilor Michelle
Belkot was absent from that meeting.

Marshall said she believes the county’s comprehensive plan and future
growth “is very much tied” to C-Tran’s future.

“Convenience makes for a successful transit system,” Marshall said. “It has
to be easy and frequent to participate in.”

C-Tran will collect public feedback on the proposed long-range transit plan
through Nov. 16.

The C-Tran board will hold a public hearing to discuss the plan at 5:30
p.m. Tuesday at the C-Tran administration building, 10600 N.E. 51st Circle,
Vancouver. The meeting will be livestreamed on Clark/Vancouver Television (
cvtv.org) and is available virtually by calling 1-408-418-8370 (access code
2482 423 8370).

The board is expected to vote on the C-Tran 2045 transit plan on Dec. 8.
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