Stilson Transit Center may tap up to $1M more SPET after grant funds get spent

Jackson’s north-end mobility hub at Stilson is on track to open in July 2026 — but county staff want authority to plug a funding gap with up to $1 million more in 2022 Transportation Alternatives SPET money. The request would raise the project’s total SPET allocation to as much as $8,388,892, per a new staff report to the county commission. BCC Staff Report — Additional SPET Allocation for Stilson Transit Center

The short version: the gap isn’t a construction overrun. When commissioners and the Town Council approved the project in December 2024, the SPET ask assumed the full $7.2 million in federal BUILD grant dollars would be available for the Stilson scope. About $1 million of that federal allocation has since been used for professional services (including work by Jorgensen Associates), reducing what’s left for construction — so local dollars have to backfill.

If approved, staff say about $600,000 in the 2022 Transportation Alternatives SPET program would remain unobligated after Stilson and other approved projects. For housing and workforce stability, the real question is whether this “mobility hub” investment actually turns into more reliable service — because START can’t keep shifts filled if drivers can’t afford to live here, no matter how nice the waiting room is.