2014 Election results: Local ballot measures – transit, monorail, preschool, more

The election-night vote count for King County is in, and here’s how the local ballot measures are going:

TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DISTRICT PROPOSITION #1 – results here
59 percent yes, 41 percent no

*Added 9:13 pm: Mayor Murray issued a statement saying in part, “Great cities need great mass transit – and Seattle is a great city. Seattle voters understand that, and today’s passage of Prop 1 is the next step to getting the transit system that Seattle wants and that Seattle needs. With today’s vote, we are now able to do something that has eluded elected leaders of this City for decades, and that’s significantly add to existing transit service in Seattle.”

*Added 11:52 pm: Murray, County Executive Dow Constantine, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and others will meet the media downtown Wednesday morning to talk about what’s next now that Prop 1, which includes a car-tab fee and sales-tax increase, has passed. We’ll be there.

PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CITIZENS’ PETITION (MONORAIL) – results here
80 percent no, 20 percent yes

SEATTLE PRESCHOOL MEASURES – This is a two-part set of results – here (“should either measure become law?” and here (which is preferred, 1A or 1B)
Should one become law? 65 percent yes, 35 percent no
Which one? 67 percent for 1B, 33 percent for 1A

HIGHLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOND MEASURE: Results here
57 percent yes, 43 percent no (note: 60 percent approval is required for passage)

MORE RESULTS: Other county results are here.

joel November 4, 2014 (10:18 pm)

can someone give the cliff notes version…how much did my tax bill go up tonight? and do I get a refund of the daycare money I spent the last 4 years?….

That Guy November 4, 2014 (10:47 pm)

This Metro tax make me angry, what is it for? Who is to say the money will be used correctly? It has no purpose and no direction. Seattle voters will never learn.

WSB November 4, 2014 (11:56 pm)

Well, we’ll hear tomorrow morning at 11:30 am from city and county leaders what they say will be done with the money.

Ray November 5, 2014 (12:34 am)

No, they do not. I am pretty sure Metro drivers are about to get some awesomely generous pay bump. And we will be back in this hole again in a few years.

Vincent Dakotah Langley November 5, 2014 (4:40 am)

On the national level, it looks like, come January 1, 2015, we have a Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and also a Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. So, will President Obama get anything done at all, with the United States Congress, in his last two years in office as our national president? It is perhaps really very doubtful, unfortunately. He is a “lame duck” president, from January 1, 2015 to the end of his second term in office, as our national president.
This isn’t against President Obama in any way. Myself, I had a lot of faith in him and I did vote for him, both times that he ran for the office of President of the United States of America. What’s happened now, with yesterday’s (11/04/2014) general election, though, on that national level
— well, that’s politics!!!…

joel November 5, 2014 (5:20 am)

Metro already cried wolf with the supposed bus route cuts – then it’s ‘oh look we have money after all’ . free pre school – that service via the tax payers is already in place for those who need it. now they can use the tax money already in place for more spend while getting new tax money for free pre school. that tax increase for pre school was just a starter tax increase….wait until all those qualifying are on board….then the tax increases will really kick in….

Nick November 5, 2014 (6:10 am)

Not sure if anyone knew this but Seattle already had subsidies for preschool. So now we get to pay more taxes for something that already existed

joel November 5, 2014 (7:42 am)

yes Nick….lots of subsidies for basically anything anyone needs….pre school, food, bus service, housing, utilities etc….the funds are well in place for these services. on the ballots it would be nice to have a rebuttal to the item you are voting on….yea, sure you want XXXX more dollars in car tabs BUT let’s just remember you already get XXX dollars for this in property taxes and XXX dollars for this in car tabs.

AmandaKH November 5, 2014 (8:07 am)

I’m a little confused about how they can say Anything passed. Remember when we all thought Kshama Sawant lost to Richard Conlin? Then, as the returns came back (you know, the ones mailed on election day) the tide turned. I think we should be waiting on claiming victory of anything that is less than 80/20 at this point.

WSB November 5, 2014 (8:32 am)

Amanda – Of course it’s “not over until it’s over,” but for subsequent election results to reverse 59-41 would be unprecedented in my years of election coverage. (I just looked it up … Sawant was 6,000 votes behind after election night … the spread on this measure after election night is 18,000 votes.) Anyway, the verbiage is theirs, not mine, though I should add a qualifier. Here’s how the advisory starts: “WHAT: Elected leaders and local advocates will discuss the approval and next steps of Transit Proposition 1. / WHO: Mayor Ed Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, transit advocates.”

HelperMonkey November 5, 2014 (8:25 am)

So stupid on Prop 1. we’ve already voted to hand more money to KC Metro… So now we all get higher car tabs we can’t afford. And I can’t afford $2.75 per trip to take a bus. Metro is sucking this city and county dry and for what? So they can cut more routes? They’ll ask again in a few years, and again after that. Metro can’t control their budget. Maybe they should start a Go Fund Me, that seems like the way to go begging with your hand out these days.

God November 5, 2014 (8:37 am)

The election results are very ominous, you’re now really screwed.

Peter November 5, 2014 (8:48 am)

The oh so pitiful whining of anti-transit conservatives is music to my ears.

HelperMonkey November 5, 2014 (9:23 am)

Peter I am not an “anti-transit conservative” – I am about as liberal as you can get. I just happen to believe that KC Metro severely mismanages their funds and then comes to the voters for more money and gives us fewer routes in return. You don’t have to be a conservative to see that transit in this city and county is broken. Throwing more money at it every couple years doesn’t seem to be helping. You seem to know what will – so what will?

John November 5, 2014 (9:23 am)

With the passing of Metro funds following the cancelled draconian route reductions, anti-growth advocates are losing one of their most repeated and vocal ‘concerns’.
–
I wonder how this news will play in their shifting ‘concerns’?
–
Although embracing mass transit is the only viable way to address West Seattle’s transportation needs,
my bet is they double down on the concrete infrastructure (just were do we put more roads?) and denounce the funding as too little, or too late.

WS Since 66 November 5, 2014 (9:33 am)

Lots of whining but no real solutions offered. It seems that is what some of these forums have morphed into.

Someone posts about not putting any transit on California Ave…..ok then where would you put it?

Another complains about all the subsidies but is also most likely against a fair state income tax to stop the special election circus.

Finally, we had an election yesterday. I wonder how many of the above posts were written by someone who didn’t bother to vote but come here to whine about it.

WestSide45 November 5, 2014 (9:34 am)

Hooray! More taxes! I can hardly wait to make out the check twice a year for nothing gained (yes, my house is paid off so I pay twice-a-year taxes). Maybe we should move to Nevada after all. Hmm…

steve November 5, 2014 (9:44 am)

Yay! My husband is a bus driver!! He’s going to get a huge raise and I can quit my job because we’re going to be rich! HA.
Get over it people. We need to pay for transit.

trickycoolj November 5, 2014 (9:55 am)

Let’s see, $30 for preschool, +$60 car tab, and 9.5% sales tax. I guess to actually come out ahead on my hopeful raise this year I’ll need to shop in Oregon. Good thing my mom just moved there.

Goodolwestside November 5, 2014 (10:11 am)

I’m a third generation West Seattle gal watching the results while vacationing in Oregon. I’m saddened to know my taxes are going up again both for the car I rely on to earn a living, taxes on my condo and on things I purchase to live. How is it that Oregon can make the no sales tax work? We need to re-think a state income tax. Paying almost 10% in sales tax alone it so wrong and harmful for the economy.

As for Metro, someone please stop the bleeding! First we subsidize their loses, then they take over 1 of 2 lanes on our congested West Seattle streets and why are the buses so big and mostly empty except for rush hour? I pay tabs, gas and property taxes, and frankly I’m tired of footing the bill for Metro.
I want the old West Seattle back, I want to be able to drive on the roads my taxes pay for and not have to worry about someone riding a bicycle cutting me off. Why don’t those people have to pay tabs to ride on the streets?
Sorry for the rant but I know there better ways to manage and preserve our little piece of Seattle.

trickycoolj November 5, 2014 (11:39 am)

The flip side to Oregon that my mom just learned is now she has $120 per paycheck taken directly out and given to the State of Oregon. She won’t make up that difference in raises before she plans on retiring in 8 years. She’s not sure how it shakes out at tax return time whether they get any breaks on federal taxes for state income taxes but right now she’s definitely feeling the sting in her take home pay. Two sides to every coin, but I would be curious who pays more at the end of the year. Oregon certainly seems to have more of their s#*! together with the MAX light rail running way out to their suburbs where major employers are growing significantly.

Marty November 5, 2014 (11:40 am)

How many here already forgot that the whole reason Metro funding is even an issue is because the state couldn’t pass it’s transportation bill?

Either attention spans are really that short or people are just now showing up to the party.

Here are some suggestions:
– Implement an income tax
– Reduce the sales tax because you now have an income tax
– Repeal anything with Tim Eyeman’s name on it

WSB November 5, 2014 (12:05 pm)

This will be noted in our upcoming story on the briefing downtown “transit $ passed, what next?” We tweeted our crew’s report that County Exec Constantine said it’s “just a bridge” until the state fixes transportation funding. – TR

datamuse November 5, 2014 (11:45 am)

I want the old West Seattle back too. Old growth forests and log cabins sound just peachy, don’t you think?

Diane November 5, 2014 (12:08 pm)

YES, we need a state income tax, to stop all these stupid regressive piecemeal taxes that especially cause hardship to the working poor

Diane November 5, 2014 (12:18 pm)

so, can TR or someone please clarify? so if someone lives just over the south WS border, just south of Roxbury, so not a Seattle resident, so they do not have to pay the $60 car tab?
~
and the many recently former WS residents who have moved just south of Seattle border to Burien, for cheaper rent and to buy homes at lower cost; they also don’t have to pay the $60 car tab, but get to hop on the bus north to jobs in Seattle and enjoy the supposedly improved bus service; is that correct?

WSB November 5, 2014 (12:20 pm)

Yes, this is a CITY-only measure. Only city voters, only city residents to be charged. I don’t know the specifics of whether you benefit from better bus service if you live to the south. I hope someone asked at today’s briefing; my crew is still out but they did record the whole thing on video, since I didn’t see any indication Seattle Channel or others were streaming. – TR

datamuse November 5, 2014 (12:56 pm)

Tricky, does your mother itemize? If so, she can write off state income taxes on her federal return. (Btw, state sales taxes can also be deducted. I wonder how many people actually do that.)

wscommuter November 5, 2014 (1:34 pm)

Count me among those who would welcome a state income tax to get away from the regressive nature of absurdly high sales tax rates, etc. Ironically, it has historically been the lower income working class who have been duped by the right into not supporting an income tax, even though they would benefit the most from a re-structuring of our state’s taxing scheme.

In the meantime, I’d settle for the legislature passing a real transportation bill, but given the results of last night, with the Republican caucus growing, I’m not holding my breath for that to happen either. Bummer.

joel November 5, 2014 (1:52 pm)

since66 – yes I did vote. against a state income tax??…that may be an option but first let’s use the current money wisely. the fraud in unemployment, section 8 housing, food subsidy etc is out of control. example….person I work with recently had their relatives move here from another country – 2 adults/3 kids…within weeks they are getting $850 in food stamps per month and free housing. they both work under the table for cash. my co-worker is above board and was pissed they get here and the free handouts start rolling in. she tells me her relatives already have $30k in the bank and they’ve only been here 6 months….oh and their dad he’s got a section 8 house for free that he uses for storage as he lives with his girlfriend…..a person who worked for me part time…she was begging me for full time work. finally got her extra hours to get full time. then the next week she says’ – I got a call from section 8 housing and I can get housing BUT now I make too much money. So after getting full time hours she needed to get part time work again so she did not make too much money for the free handouts….get that waste under control and then let’s talk income tax, car tabs, property taxes….and if the city is so tight on money why not bill back the DNC when Obama and Biden fly into town? Every time Air Force One land it costs Seattle about $50k in expenses…yet they never bill back the DNC to recoup the expenses.

WSB November 5, 2014 (2:03 pm)

Joel, if you truly have firsthand knowledge of fraud, I hope you have reported it. If an employer is paying people under the table, s/he is violating the law as well, and I hope your co-worker has reported it. If nobody reports alleged fraud, it’ll never get addressed, and that would be where the real problem is. Seattle Housing Authority reports long waiting lists, however, so it seems kind of odd to hear of someone allegedly arriving and being housed immediately unless there are some other exigencies, such as refugee status.

datamuse November 5, 2014 (2:22 pm)

It’s also hard to get any real data on fraud if it’s not reported. I always want to see evidence for this, but it’s always of the “someone I know” or “something I heard about” variety, and I don’t think I need to explain why that would be a lousy basis for policy.

flimflam November 5, 2014 (4:00 pm)

awesome – property owners and drivers get to subsidize parents and bus commuters. lame, regressive and unsustainable methods…

joel November 5, 2014 (7:30 pm)

fraud…..get in line behind someone at safeway and watch the WIC card come out along with the keys to the Mercedes.

dawsonct November 5, 2014 (10:29 pm)

Ya know, it’s funny, in all my grocery shopping years I can not honestly recall a time that I bothered to pay attention to how the people in front of me were paying for their groceries.
—
You’re ire and suspicion is misdirected joel.

wb November 5, 2014 (10:40 pm)

@goodolwestseattle

I’m sure the Native American
people would like their old West Seattle back too. And seriously, a bike cutting you off? Try not being a car clown.

Michael Swope November 6, 2014 (9:41 am)

I generally agree with Joel. My anecdotal experience with how people pay at Safeway is ebt card while driving a vehicle significantly nicer than mine. When it comes to food, I guess I’m okay with the fraud/misuse if 10% of the people that get it really need it.
Back to metro. I was at a Murphy auction in Kenmore 2 years ago and watched 50 metro buses that were all 3-5 years old sell for less than the cost of used tires on them. They all ran great, were in perfect serviceable condition and all sold for less than 2,000.00. Bear in mind these buses cost over 600,000 new. Metro is beyond wasteful. The waste at metro should be criminal.

Michael Swope November 6, 2014 (9:43 am)

I generally agree with Joel. My anecdotal experience with how people pay at Safeway is that they pay with an ebt card while driving a vehicle significantly nicer than mine. When it comes to food, I guess I’m okay with the fraud/misuse if 10% of the people that get it really need it.

Michael Swope November 6, 2014 (9:44 am)

Back to metro. I was at a Murphy auction in Kenmore 2 years ago and watched 50 metro buses that were all 3-5 years old sell for less than the cost of the used tires on them. They all ran great, were in perfect serviceable condition and all sold for less than 2,000.00. Bear in mind these buses cost over 600,000 new. Metro is beyond wasteful. The waste at metro should be criminal.

Sorry, comment time is over.