In the next six years, the city of Sammamish plans to address $90.2 million in major road improvements and projects without taking on bonded debt.

“This is good news,” Mayor Tom Vance said.

These big projects are outlined in the six-year Transportation Improvement Program, a planning document that makes projects eligible for grants. It includes arterials like Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road and Sahalee Way Northeast. The Sammamish City Council approved the plan, 6-1, July 7.

In late November or early December, when the Sammamish City Council reviews the budget, these projects will be reflected.

As outlined in the 2016-2021 plan, the city anticipates receiving about $20.1 million in state and federal grants in the six-year span.

Of this, $5 million from the state’s transportation package has already been earmarked for Issaquah-Fall City Road.

The total project cost to widen and improve the road is estimated at $23 million. Like Issaquah-Pine Lake Road, the Fall City Road is broken into two different sections, from Southeast 48th Street to Klahanie Drive Southeast and from Klahanie Drive Southeast to Issaquah-Beaver Lake Road.

The portion between 48th Street and Klahanie Drive will be repaired first, since it is in the highest demand, Deputy City Manager Lyman Howard said.

He explained the remainder of TIP funding not covered through grants will come from various tax revenues the city collects, like an anticipated $25.3 million from road impact fees, which developers pay for based on the type of project planned and the traffic it generates. For example, a grocery store would pay more in impact fees than a single-family home.

The Transportation Improvement Plan, per state law, is updated annually. Projects from year-to-year change based on the needs of the city and the community. The plan does not commit the city to any funds or project.

However, historically, the city of Sammamish has used the document to guide its funding and project decisions during the biannual budget process.

Howard says it’s a “reasonable wish list,” comparing it to other cities, like Bellevue or Redmond, that shoot more optimistically with their plans and show an “unsecured funding” column in their TIPs.

The Sammamish TIP does not have such a column, because the city has or is confident it can get the funds.

Howard attributes this to conservative planning and the city’s well-known fiscal responsibility, largely giving credit to the finance department, a small city staff and diligent council decisions.

Councilmember Ramiro Valderrama-Aramayo, who held the lone opposition vote against the TIP July 7, has not swayed from his concerns regarding funding.

Valderrama-Aramayo, fearful the city will need to take out bonds to complete its goals, said the city is premature to make such claims.

He questions the city’s ability to get the needed $20 million in grants and said he worries that project costs are underestimated.

The city’s estimates are based on professional judgement and surveys, Howard said.

The TIP reflects major projects, of high priority, for the city.

With the Klahanie annexation coming to fruition Jan. 1, 2016, the document includes two of the main roads bordering the roughly 2-square-mile area, Issaquah-Pine Lake Road Southeast and Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road.

When the city was first in talks with the King County Boundary Review Board last year, in trying to show the city could financially take on the expensive repairs needed along Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road, the city drafted a rough financial plan that showed the use of bonds. Howard calls this a “worst case scenario.”

The idea, Howard said, would have been to use the anticipated $1.2 million in additional revenues from the annexation to pay off bonds that would front the bill for road improvements.

The city mentions this on its website, under the frequently asked questions heading under the Klahanie annexation tab.

Now, with the vote of confidence to annex by the new year, and with a little bit of time, Howard said the finance department has come to realize this can be done without bonds — which is “good” news.

The other bit of “good” news is the difference in costs from last year’s TIP.

For example, the costs to needed improvements on Southeast Fourth Street between 228th Way Southeast and 218th Avenue Southeast dropped by $2 million from the 2015-2020 TIP. The difference will be picked up by the Metropolitan Market developer TRF Pacific LLC, Howard said.

Similarly, the project costs for Issaquah-Pine Lake Road Southeast, from Southeast 32nd Way to Southeast Klahanie Boulevard, dropped by $3.63 million from last year’s estimate. This is in addition to a $5.84 decrease shown in the 2014-2019 TIP.

The difference here is due to the Laughing Jacobs Lake development of 115 single-family homes attempting to go in along the road.