It’s a bright, full-color brochure on the roads and light-rail ballot measure arriving in thousands of Snohomish County mailboxes this week.
The mix of photos, maps and boxes offers a tutorial on the projects and tax hikes contained in the $17.8 billion transportation package for Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.
But the mailer doesn’t come from a group campaigning to pass Proposition 1. It’s produced by Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District at a cost of $380,887.43. Voters will decide the issue Nov. 6.
“This is a major choice before the public. The mailer provides factual information to help people make their decision,” said Geoff Patrick, media relations and public information manager for Sound Transit.
They had to do it. When the Legislature set up Sound Transit in the 1990s, it included a requirement that details on proposed tax increases be provided to voters no later than 20 days before an election.
At least one opponent of the current tax package feels that this primer is misleading and worked to try to get it changed.
“The Sierra Club thinks voters deserve some unbiased information on this measure, and we don’t think they’re getting it,” said Mike O’Brien, chairman of the Cascade Chapter that claims 17,000 members in the three counties.
The mailer is going to 797,000 households. Registered voters in the district’s boundaries in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties will receive one per household.
Sound Transit personnel produced the document. It will cost roughly 48 cents for each brochure.
Opponents contend the mailer is filled with inaccurate statements and void of any examination of the measure’s potential negatives.
O’Brien said it implies the proposition will generate enough money to replace the Highway 520 floating bridge on Lake Washington. He said if the measure passes, the state will still be $1.3 billion short of funding to complete the project.
Similarly, it gives the impression the Highway 9 bridge over the Snohomish River will be replaced when plans call for building a new span next to the existing one, he said.
“This is an expansion project. They are trying to paint it as a safety project,” he said.
He also said the mailer should address the effect that additional traffic traveling on the newly constructed roads would contribute to global warming.
Proposition 1 would generate $10.8 billion for Sound Transit to expand light-rail service throughout the region.
Of the total, $1.45 billion would bring trains to Mountlake Terrace, the Alderwood mall, Lynnwood and the area of 164th Street SW and Ash Way. The 164th Street station would open in 2027 under the proposed project time line.
The measure also would spend $7 billion on roads and highways with $1.5 billion on projects in Snohomish County. These include increasing capacity on the U.S. 2 trestle leading to I-5 and constructing a bypass for U.S. 2 around Monroe’s downtown.
All figures are in 2006 dollars with actual costs ending up higher at the time of expenditure because of inflation and financing.
Proposition 1 pays for the work with higher sales taxes in both districts and a boost in the motor vehicle excise tax in the Regional Transportation Investment District.
Combined, the proposed taxes would add 6 cents to a $10 purchase, and $80 to license tabs for every $10,000 of a car’s value. In other words, a $20,000 vehicle would carry a $160 Roads and Transit tab increase.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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