Seattle May Vote On $60-$80 Vehicle Registration Fee

While King County's proposed $20-a-year licensing fee has been a very, very public debate topic this election cycle, another, larger licensing fee has been brewing in the city of Seattle. The City Council is considering putting a city car tab fee on the ballot to support transit improvements through the Seattle Transportation Benefit District (STBD), and this one is much larger: anywhere from $60-$80. $40 was proposed, but apparently will not raise enough money and is off the table. An $60-80 fee would double, or more than double, what drivers currently pay yearly when you factor in the $20 Seattle drivers just started paying, but would go to fund much-needed road, transit and pedestrian safety improvements. But living in a state with one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation -- i.e., our tax burden lies heavily on low-income citizens, who pay a larger percent of their income in taxes* -- a lot of concern has been raised as to whether a fee this high goes too far.

The fee has Mayor Mike McGinn and Council member Mike O'Brien's enthusiastic seals of approval.McGinn claims the proposal will help create jobs, preserve transit services for our low-income workforce and keep gas prices low, saving the taxpayer money in the long run, and O'Brien made a bunch of pie charts that say that this tax will not have a negative impact on Seattle's low-income households. Pie charts!

But the Council as a whole is divided. The Stranger reports that Council member and STBD Board Chair Tom Rasmussen supports putting the $60 fee on the ballot but has doubts about whether it will succeed; Council member Bruce Harrell doesn't see the $80 fee working for voters right now and thinks that perhaps the vote should be delayed.

Historically I've been pretty tax-happy (and pro-transit), but $60-80 a year seems like a little too high of a price tag considering the taxes we're already considering, especially for a regressive tax. These roads and buses aren't going to pay for themselves, but it seems unfair for lower-income residents to once again shoulder the burden.

Dear readers: in the STBD Board's own words, "What is your perspective on a new vehicle license fee of up to $80 to fund transit, system preservation and safety, pedestrian and bike projects across Seattle?"

The City Council should vote Monday or Tuesday of next week on whether the fee will go on November's ballot. A public hearing is scheduled for Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Seattle City Hall Council Chamber at 600 4th Avenue.

* As a counter-example, Initiative 1098, which Washington voters rejected last year, would have been a progressive tax. Instead of the "slippery slope" people have been worried about with beginning income tax programs locally, we just have a rapidly declining slope of regressive taxes. Rock 'n' roll.