How many Snohomish County residents use the 520 floating bridge on a regular basis or commuter route? According to Prop. 1 boosters, that’s where the bulk of the tax money is to be spent; the safety issue is a farce.
When King County needed a new sewage treatment plant, they wanted to build it in Snohomish County. After much wrangling, stomping, citizen review, etc., guess where it’s being built?
As for the safety issue, why was it not a factor when the state was charging $300-plus for license tabs? Instead of those funds going for transportation issues, that money was being funneled to nearly every entity of state government except transportation. The political excuse — “by law, all taxes, fees and surcharges, etc., must go to the general fund, except for the gas tax.”
In the not too distant past, the politicians wanted a 15-cent a gallon gas tax increase because it “would fix all our transportation problems for at least 20 years.” They got it in increments of .05 and 9.5 cents. Now they say the more fuel-efficient cars reduces the revenue.
With a ten-fold increase in the numbers of vehicles — I am not a mathmetician — but an eight-fold increase in revenue due entirely to vehicle numbers is a safe bet. (Numbers based on statistics from 1990).
No matter how you approach it, Prop. 1 still is a no vote.
Harold. D. Johnson
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