$30 car tabs on hold, but transportation cuts coming anyway
Court rulings have temporarily halted Initiative 976, the measure Washington voters approved last month to slash what they pay in car-tab fees. Yet many state and local officials are proceeding as if the initiative went into effect as scheduled on Thursday.
For state transportation leaders, that has meant delaying more than 70 highway and transit projects that have yet to break ground, as well as looking at ways to cut about $478 million from the state’s transportation budget next year.
“I don’t see that we have any other choice,” said House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington. “If we just assume the court is going to overturn the initiative and it doesn’t happen, we’ll find ourselves in a bigger hole.”
Similarly, some local officials plan to set aside the money they collect from annual vehicle licensing fees, choosing not to spend it for now. That’s because they might later have to refund the money to taxpayers, if I-976 survives the ongoing legal challenge.
https://crosscut.com/2019/12/30-car-tabs-hold-transportation-cuts-coming-anyway
