What’ll it take to finally give Washington car-tab relief? Maybe a COVID-19 pandemic
For Washington drivers, the coronavirus shutdown has brought a few perks to temper the pain: fewer miles on the road, less wear on vehicles and less gas guzzled. Plus, the price at the pump has plunged in the last month — a nice windfall, if it wasn’t also a sign of the world economy in a tailspin.
But there’s one vehicle cost for which no relief is in sight: the colorful and controversial tab stuck to your rear license plate.
At some point this year, you’ll get billed for the tabs on every vehicle you own, a cost that tripled for many Pierce, King and Snohomish county residents after passage of Sound Transit 3 in 2016. The bills haven’t stopped during the pandemic, despite Gov. Jay Inslee ordering Washingtonians to stay home and watch their idled cars collect pollen in the driveway.
Inslee should slash or postpone car-tab fees for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, perhaps all year. Think of it as a down payment on full implementation of Initiative 976, the $30-car-tabs cap approved by Washington voters last fall, fueled by 66 percent support in Pierce County. The measure is now hung up in legal appeals.
The governor seemed open to the idea when a reporter brought it up at a press conference last week. “We will consider that,” Inslee said, noting other financial-relief orders he’s signed, including an eviction freeze.
An Inslee spokesman told us Monday there were no new developments. It’s unknown, for instance, how long car tabs would be suspended, and by how much, if at all. And it’s unclear whether the Legislature would have to approve, since it involves taxes.
But one thing seems certain: It won’t be the permanent cut that voters demanded and that legislative Republicans — as well as I-976 sponsor (and governor candidate) Tim Eyman — have aggressively pushed.
Some Republicans would now settle for car-tab fairness in half-measures. Sen. Steve O’Ban of Tacoma sent a letter to Inslee Monday, asking for a $30 limit while the coronavirus crisis persists. “To continue to require out-of-work Washingtonians, and small business owners of non-essential activities, to pay a vehicle licensing fee that exceeds, in some areas of the state, $400-600 or more, is unacceptable,” O’Ban said.
He’s right. No amount of household savings can be dismissed during these unprecedented times, as nearly 600,000 Washingtonians have filed jobless claims in recent weeks.
As for Eyman, we’ve never subscribed to his simplistic, anti-government, all-taxes-are-evil doctrine. But he’s correct about this: $30 car tabs are the expressed will of voters, a King County judge recently ruled I-976 constitutional, and court appeals could drag on for months, possibly longer.
The pandemic is a natural time to give taxpayers a reprieve. What’s more, legislators were already working on the assumption that I-976 will be upheld in court; in late February, they negotiated a bare-bones transportation budget, plugging an immediate $454 million hole caused by the initiative.
To be clear, $30 car tabs is an archaic idea that we opposed before last year’s election. The damage inflicted on roads, freeways, bridges, ferries and transit will only be compounded by multi-year, multi-billion-dollar revenue losses inflicted by the current economic lockdown.
State leaders like Rep. Jake Fey, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, have an unenviable job: ensuring a functional transportation system for years to come. Unfortunately, most Washingtonians are now forced to take a week-to-week outlook.
In an interview Monday, Fey told us he understands the power and symbolism of permanently cutting car tabs. But the Tacoma Democrat also says the state is staring at a 40-percent hit to future transportation budgets. “We’ll live with a court decision” once appeals have run their course, he said.
What about a temporary deferral of car tabs this year? He could also live with that. “That’s real dollars in real time (for vehicle owners) without getting into the whole issue of the initiative and its legality.”
Real dollars, indeed. We hope Inslee sees the light and acts soon.