The Sound Transit 3 package on November 2016 ballots had ballooned to a $54 billion plan. Washington's budget office estimated that I-976 would have slashed as much as $4 billion in state tax revenue by 2025. To be sure, lawmakers were misled by Sound Transit in 2015 when Sound Transit officials repeatedly said they were seeking $15 billion in “full” taxing authority, which would be more than enough to cover the expansion they wanted. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year as legal challenges worked their way through the court system. The Court emphasized that it reads ballot titles “as the average informed lay voter would,” not as skilled attorneys would parse them. On Oct. 15, justices ruled that Initiative 976 violated provisions of the state Constitution which limit the scope of ballot measures to no more than one topic. The agency has chosen to ignore public outcry because it benefits from the unfair overvaluation. It can be raised, but it can never be lowered again. Supreme Court justices announced Wednesday they will hear arguments on Initiative 976 in May and June. The initiative is preceded by a long, 20-year history of voters asking for $30 car tabs. Voter-approved Initiative 976 to lower car tabs unconstitutional, Washington Supreme Court rules Initiative 976, which would cap car tabs at $30, … Sound Transit has always had the ability to be fair and honest, and to correct car tab overcharges on their own. They based their decision on their prior ruling on Initiative 776, which had similar language but didn’t make paying off the bonds mandatory — thus making it “policy fluff” and not a separate subject. It was found to be unconstitutional for violating the … The court’s ruling on this and past car tab initiatives appears to have one major implication. Washington’s Supreme Court takes up Initiative 976 The Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on I-976, the so-called “$30 car tab fee” initiative run by Tim Eyman. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! How to contact your Seattle City Council members. Yesterday, the Washington State Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by King County and others to I-976, the initiative approved by statewide voters last November to remove car tabs. Last week the parties challenging the constitutionality of Initiative 976 filed notice that they intended to appeal Judge Marshall Ferguson's recent ruling directly to the state Supreme Court. Rather than taking up legislation from Senator O’Ban or Senator Liias, which had already been vetted by committees, Eyman chose to run I-976, which included a controversial provision that Sound Transit defease (or retire early) its bonds that are backed by MVET revenue, conditioned on the agency’s ability to do so. The Court also highlighted two other issues with I-976 potentially covering multiple subjects that it said “raised concerns” for them but ultimately weren’t dispositive. It didn’t matter how the law was written, or how the tax is assessed, or whether the public can verify how the tax is paid. The release of the Washington State Supreme Court decision striking down Initiative 976 that was approved by voters last November seems appropriately timed – coming the day after a state advisory panel met virtually to discuss a planned report to … The Court found that the initiative contained multiple subjects and that its title was “deceptive and misleading.” It overturned a lower court ruling that largely upheld the initiative. The state Supreme Court has overturned Initiative 976, which was approved by voters in 2019 to lower annual vehicle registration renewals to $30 per year. The state Supreme Court heard virtual oral arguments Tuesdayabout the constitutionality of the initiative to lower the cost of car tabs that voters passed last year. As Eyman’s previous initiatives were challenged and struck down by the court, there was some concern that this, too, would face a similar outcome. The Mayor’s proposed 2021 budget assumed conservatively that I-976 would be upheld; now the city will scramble a bit to re-work its numbers, and the Council will have some more money to work with in the coming weeks. Tim Eyman attacked Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s defense of I-976 in a letter sent on Thanksgiving. Today they kicked off the arguments, with an emergency motion to stay Ferguson's ruling until their appeal is resolved. A second legal maneuver to allow Initiative 976 to take effect this week and lower the cost of vehicle license tabs was filed Tuesday with the state Supreme Court. Copyright (C) 2014-2020, Kevin Schofield. Democrats proposed legislation as well, but most of it was watered down and protected Sound Transit rather than taxpayers. The decision to keep I-976 as it was turned out to be a mistake. I-976, the $30 car tab measure approved by voters in 2019 has been struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court. All rights reserved. Rather than admitting error and working to restore public trust, Sound Transit has dug in its heels, refusing to be accountable to the public. The court found that the provision requiring Sound Transit to retire, defease or refinance bonds “is not germane to limiting vehicle taxes and fees” and thus “is an unconstitutional second subject.”. Today, all nine justices of the Washington Supreme Court found Initiative 976 to be unconstitutional. Article II Section 19 of the Washington State Constitution declares that no bill “shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in its title.” It applies to both bills passed by the state Legislature, and those approved by voters through the initiative process. When asked by reporters if he would consider providing car tab relief, the Governor said he would give it some thought, but ultimately the issue was brushed aside without any real policy analysis of the impact this relief could have for families. All the state or local government entity has to do is initiate a tax and issue bonds – and that tax can never be lowered as long as bonds are outstanding. The accelerated review means a decision is … Justices said Initiative 976 violated provisions of the state Constitution which limit the scope of ballot measures to no more than one topic. They also found that, based upon the title, the average voter would not think that the initiative eliminates the mechanism for voters to approve future vehicle taxes (which it does). This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Initiative 976, Tim Eyman’s most recent “$30 car tabs” effort, is unconstitutional. The Washington Supreme Court has unanimously struck down Eyman's Initiative 976, a measure that would have steeply discounted the price of … Initiative 976. For the court to effectively validate that line of reasoning is absurd and wrong. It is important to remember that Initiative 776 was first overturned at the superior court level based on the single-subject rule, including sections that mentioned Sound Transit’s bond contracts, but this was later reversed by the state Supreme Court. The Court found specifically that section 12, which dealt with Sound Transit’s bonds, was a separate subject and thus its inclusion in the bill unconstitutionally violated the “single subject” requirement. Yet, because of partisan politics, Democrats and Republicans did not come to any agreement in 2017, 2018, 2019, or 2020. The Court found that this was misleading to the average voter, who would read this to say that taxes and fees previously approved by voters would not be repealed. The court’s ruling on this is bizarre and seems inconsistent with how they ruled in Pierce II, when single-subject didn’t appear to be an issue. Wordy and nerdy. Where the AG could have done a better job is in adding defeasement of bonds to the ballot summary, which said “this measure would repeal, reduce, or remove authority to impose certain vehicle taxes and fees; limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30, except voter-approved charges; and base vehicle taxes on Kelley Blue Book value.”  Although the court did not ultimately base its decision on the ballot summary (separate from the ballot title), it was the subject of hot debate during oral argument and could have formed another basis for the court to strike down the initiative. UPDATE 12-4-19: The state Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a voter-approved $30 car tab measure will remain on hold while a legal fight over the initiative's constitutionality plays out. Meanwhile, taxpayers continued paying high car tab tax overcharges. The ruling could have significant financial consequences for transit agencies such as Sound Transit that rely on motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) revenue. That relieves a significant burden on the state transportation budget, Sound Transit, and SDOT. AunanimousstateSupremeCourtstruckdownthe$30car-tabinitiativepassedbyvotersin2019. I-976 was approved by voters in November 2019. Once a government body receives authority to create revenue and bonds it, the public is forever stuck with that revenue source. The Washington State Supreme Court has issued a ruling striking down Tim Eyman’s Initiative 976 for $30 car tabs across the state. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. The Washington Supreme Court wants the constitutionality question for Initiative 976 settled for good and sooner rather than later. OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Initiative 976 unconstitutional, striking down a measure approved by voters … Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Regardless of whether voters pass the renewal, the city will need to sort through whether to ask voters to pass a modified version next year that reverts back to the prior funding mechanism. Washington state Supreme Court justices will decide whether a measure to cap car tab fees at $30 is unconstitutional. I-976, which caps car tab fees at $30, was approved by voters in November. To prevent further erosion of public trust, it is critical that the Governor call the legislature into special session at this time to discuss how to implement the will of voters as expressed in Initiative 976. There is no doubt that agency officials carry enormous responsibility for the car tab mess everyone has had to deal with over the years, the brunt of it falling on working families in the Puget Sound region. As we are being told every five minutes that our votes and elections matter – it is incumbent upon elected officials to demonstrate that they believe this to be true. In its opinion overturning I-976, the court’s decision surprisingly didn’t hinge on the impairment of contracts as it did in I-776, but instead argued that Section 12 of the bill (the language regarding Sound Transit defeasing bonds) rendered the law unconstitutional because it violated the single-subject rule by creating a separate subject from the main subject of the initiative (“limiting vehicle taxes and fees”). After the passage of Sound Transit 3, voters were shocked to learn their car tabs were higher than what Sound Transit suggested they would be, because the agency uses an outdated vehicle depreciation schedule that allows them to inflate the value of vehicles to collect maximum tax revenue from citizens. To isolate votes in Sound Transit’s taxing district or in King County suggests those votes matter more than those made by residents in Eastern Washington or elsewhere. The second was that the initiative combined one-time required actions with broader systematic changes. The Washington state Supreme Court has ruled against a voter-approved initiative to cap certain vehicle taxes and fees. Thus, it is understandable why Eyman may have thought single-subject would not be an issue with I-976 (especially since the King County Superior Court, when considering I-976 earlier this year, ruled that it did not violate the single-subject rule). First, the legislature granted Sound Transit authority to tax and collect motor vehicle excise taxes (MVET) using an outdated depreciation schedule. In contrast, when Initiative 695 was struck down in 2000, Governor Locke called a news conference within hours of the ruling, “demanding the legislature act in special session to remove any doubt in voters’ minds” that their will would not be carried out. Independent news and analysis of the Seattle City Council. The initiative included several provisions, some of which represented good policy and some of which did not. The court’s ruling is a final straw in what is clearly a failure of government at every level in respecting voters – the legislative branch to start – followed by the initiative process, the Supreme Court, the office of the Governor, the office of the Attorney General, and of course – Sound Transit. Director, Coles Center for Transportation, © 2021 Washington Policy Center   All Rights Reserved   Terms of Use, Delaying road projects is totally unnecessary, other solutions are available, $5 billion in cost overruns is “not catastrophic” to Sound Transit, but car tab relief is a “nightmare”, New Seattle minimum wage law forces Uber and Lyft to raise prices, Transportation officials hope to substitute agency control and values for legislative control of projects, Governor wants to delay critical projects, while funding electric ferries and high-speed rail, Officials pitch wishful thinking as fact in state plan to reduce driving. Since I-976’s section 12 is mandatory, the court found, it is a separate subject. Thanks! Washington Supreme Court declares Initiative 976 unconstitutional. The Court did not rule on any of the other issues raised in the appeal. 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