Prop 1 in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties amounts to more than a doubling of local transportation sales tax.
Following is a complete explanation from two different perspectives:
Sound Transit's sales tax is now 4/10th of one percent, approved in the 1996 regional transit election to fund -- among other projects -- the Central Link Light Rail line from NE 45th Street in Seattle's University District all the way to South 200th Street more than a mile past SeaTac Airport.
Just a portion of that light rail line is under construction, and planned to be opened in 2009.
In 1996, Sound Transit promised that this sales tax could be partially rolled back after ten years by voters if they didn't like the regional transit performance results they would have seen through 2007.
Now it is 2007 and Regional Proposition 1 attempts to renew this sales tax and more than double it, to 9/10th of one percent. 4/10th in 1996 plus 5/10th if Prop 1 passes equals 9/10th of one percent.
The RTID part of the same Prop 1 adds still another 1/10th of one percent to the regional sales tax, bringing the overall Prop 1 sales tax authorization to a full penny on a dollar purchase: 9/10th% for Sound Transit with Prop 1 plus 1/10th% for RTID with Prop 1 equals one percent sales tax.
However, in King County, Metro Transit by itself already collects 9/10th of one percent sales tax.
Because Prop 1 explicitly reauthorizes Sound Transit's overall 1996 sales tax, Prop 1 in King County also amounts to more than a doubling of transportation sales tax overall -- from 0.9 percent to Metro Transit, to 1.9 percent for transportation purposes overall.
The Snohomish County transit tax outside of City of Everett is equal to King County Metro's, so the doubling described here applies there as well. Pierce County Transit and City of Everett Transit impose only a 0.6% transit sales tax, so the increase in those jurisdictions is from 0.6 percent to 1.6 percent, also more than a doubling of overall transportation taxes.
Bottom line: in the three counties of the central Puget Sound region, Prop 1 more than doubles Sound Transit's sales taxes, and more than doubles overall transportation sales taxes.
Click here for Prop 1's estimated schedule of $157 billion tax collections in a one page pdf.
And what about Prop 1's increases in the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) on new car purchases and annual car license tab renewals?
Right now in the region, car owners each year pay a flat fee of $30, plus Sound Transit's 3/10th of one percent on car valuation. The latter was made illegal by passage of Initiative 776, but it was retained by Supreme Court order through year 2028 because of some bonds sold by Sound Transit in 1999 that require this tax to be collected.
In 2007, if Prop 1 passes, an additional 8/10th of one percent on car valuation will be collected on regional car owners for RTID.
High school algebra reveals the resulting annual tax increase for car owners if Prop 1 wins:
For a car valued at $6,001 or more, the car tab tax more than doubles if Prop 1 passes.
For a car valued at over $30,000, the car tab tax more than triples if Prop 1 passes.
Considering both MVET and sales tax, the $157 billion cash intake required from citizens over 50 years by Prop 1 is the largest local tax increase proposed in U.S. history.
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Last modified:
September 23, 2007