Edmonds two weeks ago became the fifth Washington city to form a “transportation benefit district” that will have the power to levy a $20 tax on automobile registrations.
TBDs can use the money for road repairs.
State law allows TBDs to levy a flat tax on vehicle licenses — $20 without voter approval and up to $100 per vehicle with voter approval. This tax is unrelated to the value of the vehicle, unlike the motor-vehicle excise tax, based on vehicle value.
Tim Eyman, sponsor of the initiatives that stopped the motor-vehicle excise tax, criticized Edmonds’ move last week.
“Voters have twice approved $30 car tabs and both initiatives said that if they went above $30 that the increase must be voter approved,” he told me. “Edmonds should respect those two ballot-box decisions and get the voters of Edmonds to OK any increase above $30.”
Democratic state Sen. Darlene Fairley, a former Lake Forest Park councilwoman, responded that such a vote would require a special election.
“It costs a lot to have a special election,” she told me Monday. “Voters can always throw out the council members if they get mad about this.”
The Eyman-sponsored measures were expressions of voter anger about the excise tax on car licensing. The Legislature’s authorization of the TBD taxes was a way to make up for the loss in money for roadway maintenance.
The TBD taxes are the same for a car of any price. A small excise tax would be fairer. Voter anger has led to taxes that aren’t based on ability to pay.
Fighting Paine flights would waste money
Edmonds may get another request from the city of Mukilteo for money to fight passenger air service at Paine Field.
The fight would be a waste of money.
Mukilteo says it has about $250,000 to fight the beginning of Horizon Airlines flights this spring and Allegiant Airlines flights at a later time.
What can Mukilteo and Edmonds gain from such spending on court costs? Hold off the flights for few months.
They know they can’t stop passenger flights; so they hope to delay them.
Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said last week that his city would use federal laws to delay passenger flights.
“Make it time consuming, expensive and stretch it out,” he told the Herald of Everett.
Marine and the lawyers representing Mukilteo hope that using the courts to delay the flights will allow them either to convince the airlines that the effort isn’t worth the cost or to bargain to control the timing and nature of takeoffs and landings.
The cities would be better served by letting county officials bargain for the best terms from the airlines.
Mukilteo could better us the $250,000 on police, fire and parks, and Edmonds has demands on its resources that outweigh contributing to Mukilteo’s efforts.
Evan Smith can be reached at entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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