The Metro K Line Northern Extension is an ambitious project that would go through four densely populated neighborhoods full of tourist attractions and employment centers on L.A.’s Westside and also connect with three other Metro rail lines.

But because the planned underground light rail line is so costly – up to $14.8 billion – and so little funding is in hand, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority reckons construction won’t start until 2041 and completion of the line could be a quarter century away.

That’s not to the liking of officials in West Hollywood, who want to see the eagerly anticipated rail link completed much sooner. They have proposed a relatively new financing mechanism – the creation of an enhanced infrastructure financing district – to leverage more funding early on, potentially moving up the construction start by at least a decade.

The K Line Northern Extension would start at the current northern terminus of the Metro K Line (formerly the Crenshaw-LAX line) at the Crenshaw station on the E (Expo) Line and connect with two other rail lines: the Metro D (Purple) Line on Wilshire Boulevard and then the Metro B (Red) Line at the Hollywood/Highland Station.

Within those connection points, three route options are under consideration: one going north along La Brea Avenue into Hollywood and costing around $11 billion, one going north along Fairfax Avenue into West Hollywood and costing around $12.4 billion; and the third swinging west from Fairfax through the heart of West Hollywood and costing about $14.8 billion.

Metro currently has $2.2 billion in Measure M sales tax dollars earmarked for this project, which is less than 20% of the cost of any of the three options. No other funding has been identified so far.

Enter the enhanced infrastructure financing district concept. These districts have emerged as one of several new funding mechanisms for development and infrastructure projects in California in the wake of the demise of redevelopment agencies about a dozen years ago.

These districts use tax increment financing to leverage funds. Tax increment financing captures the growth in tax revenue for up to 45 years that would come from the completion of a project and monetizes that growth to help fund the project. The tax revenue comes through a combination of new development and increased property values for existing property uses. The monetization often takes the form of bond sales, with the higher annual tax revenue used as a repayment stream.

So far, according to Larry Kosmont, an economic development consultant whose namesake El Segundo company specializes in setting up these districts, the majority of potential districts his company is consulting on would assist the development of projects with an affordable housing component.

While West Hollywood officials are looking at setting up one of these districts within their city’s boundaries for the K Line Northern Extension, they are also looking at partnering with both the city and county of Los Angeles jurisdictions to expand the reach of the district and the amount of money it could raise. Such a combined district, they estimate, could make up to $22 billion available for upfront monetization.

Kosmont said the biggest advantage of a combined infrastructure financing district would be as the local match component to leverage federal and state funds for the K Line Northern Extension project.

“This can speed up and increase both the bond and government funding leverage to get this project moving earlier,” he said. “It’s just like a startup going to investors.”