In July, the city will add another $20 to the vehicle-license fee. Before that money starts rolling in, they’re working on the plan for what to do with the $7 million a year that it’s expected to generate. This SDOT Blog post has an overview of what they’ve come up with so far.
Now they’re asking what you think. Read the proposal and answer the survey by next Tuesday morning (March 30th).
As a West Seattle resident, I’ve voted and commented that they need to invest significantly more in Strong Bridges.
so they can just *poof* add more fees for car tabs? the ones that a majority voted to reduce but never transpired?
No, actually, this isn’t “poof.” Background:
https://westseattleblog.com/2020/11/car-tab-fee-for-bridge-maintenance-councilmembers-proposal/
Thanks for the background! From the other article this was proposed “With support from labor and business communities, Councilmembers Alex Pedersen, Lisa Herbold, and Andrew J. Lewis today proposed legislation to use Vehicle Licensing Fees to boost maintenance of multimodal bridges throughout Seattle”. So the council proposed this to spend on bridges, but now only wants to spend 24% of the $20 on bridges..
No, this is not the council changing their mind.- they made a proposal and now this is what SDOT is proposing to do with the $.
But the council proposed to spend it on bridges? If SDOT wants to spend it on other things can the proposal be rejected? This government web of spending our money (on things not proposed) is a little confusing.
Maybe they could fix the pothole in front of Canna there’s a metal pipe in the hole that can do some real damage to a tire.
No joke, I know it’s been reported by at least 2 people and it lies there waiting to rip a tire apart. And if a bike hit it… that wouldn’t be good at all.
Time to bring out the spray paint and mark that hole with something that will draw attention. 🍆
The Find it Fix it app is great for potholes. I’ve gotten a few filled by using it
Sooooooooo angry. As a W Seattle resident who pays car tab fees on three vehicles, the last thing I want to see even MORE taxes go to are safe streets and sidewalks when we have a closed WS bridge and crumbling infrastructure all around the city. Absolutely one of the worst budget proposals I have ever seen.
Yeah, we certainly don’t want any safe streets or sidewalks until the West Seattle Bridge reopens! Great comment, Stan!
That survey was ridiculous. It’s mostly a slideshow presentation, followed by one page of “what do you think?”. Anyway, I’m happy to pay another $20/vehicle if it goes toward pedestrian safety. There seems to be room for improvement on spending priorities, but we’ll see what it looks like at the end.
Amen. I’ve seen extreme push-polling before, but “Here’s our lengthy spin on the best aspects of what we’re going to do no matter how you vote, aren’t we great?” takes the cake. It fits, though, considering that they keep getting the state Supreme Court to strike down tab reductions no matter how many times we vote for them.For the record, I have nothing against taxes on principle. I think that it’s ludicrous that Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, and STILL keeps raising regressive taxes that hit lower incomes harder (like car tabs) while cutting taxes on big-money donors. (If you think I’m joking, compare Washington’s tax revenues with my old home state of Alabama. We’re far more regresssive.)
Them: Give us $20
Us; OK
Them: Thanks
Us: What’s it for
Them: We’ll think of something and let you know. We have a cunning plan.
I would love for all the new residents with license plates from other states to get fined for being here for over a year without getting a washington plate. Washington is missing out on a lot of money.
Please spend it all on bridges. Also classic Seattle; raise a tax/fee then figure out what to spend it on.
If SDOT considers that a “survey” it’s easy to see why they can’t even keep up with basic transportation maintenance.
Yay, pedestrian funding! Let’s hope Seattle builds more sidewalks in the “redzone” neighborhoods please.
How far off is this translation:Less than a quarter to take care of our critical and ailing bridges… More than half for “safe” sidewalks/streets, meaning it will be spent on… whatever the City Council wants?My problem with this is that recent history has demonstrated that the Council’s priorities have leaned towards its transportation-social-engineering agenda at the expense of real maintenance, and we’ve fallen for the “infrastructure maintenance/safety bait-and-switch for 12 million dollar per mile bike lane” thing before.I am in full support of real safety, of making our city more bike/pedestrian-friendly, and having a robust public transit system. But WHEN will we see existing infrastructure reach the level of funding priority it needs to be? Not in this proposal, not at 24%…So many questions. If this whole body of work is so important for our community, why is the cost all on the backs of those who own vehicles? How much have safety and the environment been compromised due to the loss of the WS Bridge? Why would I have to pay a double tax just because I own a motorcycle in addition to my small car? Does “safe” streets include pothole repair, or only more “traffic calming”? WHY can’t this city, which spends so much on studies (here comes another 7%?) generate a detailed and accurate list of projects to be funded?
Is “we’re going to start collecting more car tab fees/property taxes/business taxes and figure out later what to do with the money” standard practice in most other cities? Good grief, you’d think if our representatives were going to even consider taking more of our hard-earned money that they’d at a minimum require a spending plan in place first instead of “idk, maybe for like, bridge maintenance or whatever. We can work on a plan later once we’ve got the money, maybe send a survey or something.”
Sorry, comment time is over.
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