Funding Sources

Link Transit has several sources of funding.

The primary source is locally-generated sales tax, which was approved by the voters. In 1990, voters in Chelan and Douglas counties approved a 4/10 of 1% sales tax to support the operation of public transit. In 2019, voters approved an additional 2/10 of 1% sales tax to support the expansion of public transit services. This new tax went into effect in two stages: the first 1/10 became effective on January 1, 2020, and the second 1/10 on January 1, 2024. Currently, sales tax makes up about 75% of Link’s annual revenue.

State and federal funding make up the majority of the remainder, with interest and leases totaling a very small fraction of the total revenue.

One major federal funding stream is STIC funding. This program provides Link Transit with over two million dollars annually.

STIC funding is a provision in the FTA Urbanized Area Formula program (Section 5307) to distribute funds to urbanized areas under 200,000 population. Under the formula for STIC (Small Transit-Intensive Cities), funds are apportioned to urbanized areas (UZA) with a population less than 200,000 that meet or exceed the average level of service for all UZAs with populations between 200,000 and 1,000,000.

The UZAs must operate at a level of service equal to or above the industry average level of service for all UZAs with a population of at least 200,000 but not more than 999,999, in one or more of six performance categories:
1. Passenger miles traveled per vehicle revenue mile
2. Passenger miles traveled per vehicle revenue hour
3. Vehicle revenue miles per capita
4. Vehicle revenue hours per capita
5. Passenger miles traveled per capita
6. Passengers per capita

Each performance measure met equals $501,540 in funding for the transit agency.