Employer and Property Manager Mini-Grants
Employers and property managers in Bellevue: Choose Your Way Bellevue Business Services offers mini-grants of up to $10,000 for commute-related one-time capital projects such as bike racks/amenities, real-time lobby transit screens, wayfinding for bike parking, parking facility changes to encourage high-occupancy vehicles, and time-limited promotional campaigns for non-solo commuting. This can include covering transit or vanpool fare pilots. The mini-grants can also support programs to manage daily-choice parking at your worksite.
Free employer and property manager ORCA "starter cards"
Choose Your Way Bellevue is encouraging your employees to try transit. We are inviting Bellevue employers and property managers to apply for up to 50 ORCA cards preloaded with $12 to get you started.
Rebates on new ORCA Passport programs for employers and property managers
ORCA Passport programs are a way to offer your employees unlimited free rides aboard all major transit agencies at a fraction of the retail price. Employers and property managers starting a new ORCA Passport program are eligible for rebates from Choose Your Way Bellevue Business Services and qualify for the New Customer Incentive through King County Metro.
You can learn more about this offering and King County Metro’s new customer incentive here: ORCA Rebate and KCM Incentive.pdf
Read more about ORCA Business Offerings on our Business Resource page or on King County Metro’s website. If you’d like to learn more about how to apply, contact us at info@cywb.org or click here to schedule your free consultation.
Tax Benefit Programs
Federal tax benefits are available to employees to help offset costs incurred for employee commute benefits. Additionally, pre-tax accounts can save employees money on commute and parking expenses, as well as providing tax savings for employees.
Federal Tax Benefits
Per the 2018 tax law, employers can still offer employees a commute benefit free of payroll taxes. Federal tax benefits apply when the employer, or qualified third party, delivers the commute benefit to the employee through a pass, ticket book or voucher.
Depending on who pays for the program, these tax benefits may take the form of a tax-free employer-paid subsidy, a pre-tax payroll deduction, or a combination of both.
If the employer pays:
- The employee benefits from the employer-subsidized pass, ticket book or voucher up to $325 ($340 for 2026) each month, tax-free. (When the employer and employee share the cost of the pass, ticket book or voucher, the total combined tax-free and pre-tax amounts may not exceed $325 per month per employee.)
If the employee pays:
- The employer can allow the employee to pay up to $325 (see stipulation in parentheses in the bullet above) for all eligible transportation expenses each month through a pre-tax payroll deduction.
- The employee saves federal withholding and FICA payroll taxes on the amount deducted.
- The employer saves paying FICA on the amount deducted.
Tax Benefit Resources
Benefits services firms can handle the administration of pretax programs. Examples of firms that offer such services include:
Check out King County Metro's Commuter Tax Benefit page for additional information. Employers are also highly encouraged to consult a tax advisor for detailed information regarding the tax implications of commute benefits and incentives.