Sound Transit’s board of directors—comprised of elected officials from Snohomish, King and Pierce counties—unanimously voted to pursue lobbying efforts during the 2015 legislative cycle. Their goal is to convince legislators to raise Sound Transit’s taxing authority in order to allow them to move forward with a new $15 billion spending package.
Sound Transit board vice chair Paul Roberts—also an Everett City Councilman—recently told the Everett Herald that the $15 billion package “shouldn’t be viewed in competition with any state package…” Roberts said, “We understand the challenges facing the Legislature… But if you want to have a viable, thriving economy, then you can’t choke it to death by not having the infrastructure necessary for that viability.”
The purposed measure, which is referred to as Sound Transit 3, promises to prioritize new projects—including extending light rail from Lynnwood to Everett by sometime in the 2030s. Of course, as SHIFT recently pointed out, Sound Transit has yet to complete projects already underway. Worse, the transit agency has a very poor track record of keeping the promises it makes to voters.
Before Sound Transit can expect lawmakers to consider granting it a higher taxing authority, board member must decide which taxes to raise. Tax hike options include boosting “property tax assessment of up to 25 cents for each $1,000 of assessed valuation,” increasing sales tax by a half-cent, increasing car tabs fees, or bumping up “motor vehicle excise tax rate from 0.3 percent to as much as 0.8 percent.”
This is the plan that we paid for starting in 1993 and have been paying for over and over. I still hope it happens; however, in the past, the money was stolen by the Seattle Urbanists who don’t want people to be able to travel quickly to the cheaper suburbs.
Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend, Tax & Spend……….