Since the late '90s, the people have repeatedly voted to pass several separate state initiatives - a process spelled out in the state's constitution for any contentious issue - but, in this case to keep vehicle tab renewal fees to $30.00 in order to counter local government's insatiable appetite for more and more "revenue" - to tax payers, that's known as money out of our wallets & purses - to fund its pet projects such as Sound Transit's light rail system which is poorly designed and will not serve many of those being force to cough up their hard earned income. Several times after the assorted initiatives passed, law makers figured out ways to work around the initiative in order to increase those vehicle fees.
Over the past few months before this election, a court case which took place in the state's Supreme Court regarding the discovery by the legislature that Sound Transit had falsely mislead - that's polite parlance for "lied" - both the legislature and the voting public as to the method by which it would valuate vehicles for assessing license tab fees.
When they were exposed through evidence presented to the court that the claim was true, the lawyers for Sound Transit then were asked if they would be able to correct this improper method. Their response was typical, "It would cost us too much!" When asked what it would cost Sound Transit to fix the over rated valuation system they'd put into place through the state's Dept. of Licensing, it was $100,000! Yet, Sound Transit will collect over a 30 year period $54 billion to extend light rail into Snohomish and Pierce Counties, but only up to Everett and down to Tacoma. Yet a larger area of drivers were being overvaluated tab fees to support the project which has already experienced cost overruns in it two previous projects; ST1 & ST2. So, some of the funds from ST3 are going to be used to bail the other two project out of their red ink.
This past election on Nov. 5th saw, for the umpteenth time the passing of the initiative by the voters in order to send a message to those liberals who just can't get it through their heads that they work for us, the people, and not we for them. With a few days, the mayor & A.G. of Seattle - the main driving force behind the Sound Transit mess which has generated this scenario, announces it will fight against the will of the people; so much for their claim they stand for democracy!
As with may bits of news, the comments underneath the article are more interesting that the text of the subject being discussed in the article, because one gets a real sense of the various perspectives which are shared in them. Thus, you'll want to check these comments out in response to the Seattle Mayor/A.G.'s announcement of filing a lawsuit against the outcome of the initiative passing to keep $30.00 vehicle tabs. I'd like to hear Mayor Durkin's explanation of how voters passing this initiative to maintain $30.00 vehicle tabs is "unconstitutional".
At least the state has a few men of common sense and integrity to call the state's A.G. Bob Ferguson - who's legally going after Tim Eyman responsible for acting on behalf the part of the state outside the "blue dot" I call Seattle now - on the carpet for his conflict of interest in this letter Senator Steve O'Ban wrote to the A.G. only days after the election. It will definitely be interesting to learn how Ferguson reacts.
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