Published October 2003

PFD projects
an economic boost

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Four public facilities district projects in Snohomish County are providing a $135 million boost to the local economy — just in construction spending alone — with no new taxes.

During the lifetime of the projects — the Everett Events Center, Lynnwood Convention Center, Edmonds Center for the Arts and Paine Field’s National Flight Interpretive Center — the county and its cities will benefit from an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars.

That’s the bright economic picture painted by Travis Snider, president of the Snohomish County Public Facilities District, which is contributing more than $22 million to those construction costs, about 17 percent of the total expenses.

Public facilities districts pay for their projects by issuing bonds that will be paid for by operating revenues, state-rebated sales tax revenues, hotel-motel taxes and miscellaneous other sources. As a countywide PFD, the Snohomish County agency has been able to contribute to city PFD projects as well as its own air museum project.

The $71.5 million Everett Events Center that opened this month included a $7 million investment by the county PFD, which also contributed $1.5 million to the Snohomish County government’s new, adjacent underground parking garage, since it will provide parking for evening events at Everett’s new center.

Lynnwood’s convention center project, roughly estimated to cost $30 million, includes about $8 million from the county PFD, which also contributed nearly $4 million to Edmonds’ $16 million performing arts center and $3.5 million for the county’s new $22 million air museum at Paine Field.

The state benefits, too, since the construction projects generate millions in sales tax revenues that wouldn’t be available if none of those projects were built, Snider said.

“We’ve been told by experts who understand these types of projects that the air museum may have more economic impact than the Everett Events Center. This is really a big deal, and there’s a lot of excitement about it. Boeing’s tour center today has about 120,000 visitors, but the air museum is expected to increase that to 230,000 a year,” he said.

Already, he said, at least two hotel developers are showing interest in developing a 100- to 125-room, four-star facilities.

“Right now, aside from anticipated tourism revenues at the hotels, most of Boeing’s visiting executives stay in Seattle, amounting to around 14,000 room nights a year. The air museum hotel would capture a good portion of those nights by keeping those executives here,” he said.

The impact of the PFDs will be impressive, he said.

“Snohomish County has a tremendous opportunity, because of these four projects and the Tulalip Tribes’ Quil Ceda Village development (near Marysville), to become a real destination tourism center,” Snider said. “For the first time, I think, there are enough events, facilities and attractions to bring people here who never before thought about vacationing in our county. Before, we didn’t have enough things like this that people wanted to see.”

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Related: Business groups already making use of center
Related: Bringing people, dollars to area
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