Voters need to give consent
Published 12:01 am Thursday, January 27, 2011
When it comes to raising taxes, the current economic and political atmosphere doesn’t yield to good intentions.
A bill introduced in Olympia this week by Rep. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) is no exception. Liias wants to give public transit agencies in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties the option to tack a temporary $30 fee onto vehicle license tabs to help ease revenue shortages and put more buses on the roads. Agency governing boards could adopt the fee, which would expire by the end of 2013, without a vote of the public.
That’s a fatal flaw.
Look, it’s clear that agencies like Snohomish County’s Community Transit are hurting. A dramatic drop in sales-tax revenue, which provides 59 percent of the agency’s funding, forced CT to reduce service by 15 percent in June. Routes were cut, and all Sunday service was stopped. Eighteen administrative positions were eliminated last year.
Even amid signs of an improving economy, CT projects a widening gap between costs and revenue over the next three years. Capital reserves are projected to sink into the red by 2014, and future federal grants for capital purchases are jeopardized by budget problems in the other Washington.
Transit agencies face a long-term funding challenge, and meeting it will require two things currently in short supply: robust economic activity and voter trust. The first will improve sales tax receipts. The latter will be essential to rebuilding transit’s financial foundation, but it’s undermined by efforts to institute new taxes without voter approval.
Over the years, county voters have shown consistent support for CT, ultimately approving the maximum 0.9 percent sales tax levy allowed by state law. They acknowledge and appreciate the role transit plays in easing traffic congestion, the options is provides commuters and those who can’t or would prefer not to drive, and the lifeline it extends to the disabled.
But given the strong anti-tax message sent in November, including the repeal of relatively modest taxes passed by the Legislature last year, proposing an extra $30 charge on people’s license tabs indicates some serious tone deafness. Add the fact that the Legislature has already given cities and counties the green light to raise tab fees by $20 for road improvements without a public vote, not to mention the continuing pressure on family budgets, and you’ve got the ingredients for another tax revolt.
This short-term fix won’t help transit agencies solve their long-term funding problems, but it could backfire. Voters’ trust won’t be won by cutting them out of this kind of decision.
