The car tab ruling at a glance

Originally published Friday, February 15, 2002

By a 6-3 vote, the state Supreme Court found that state lawmakers had failed to repeal the transit share of the vehicle excise tax in 2000 when they overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill 6865. That measure passed after the court found that Initiative 695's repeal of car tab taxes was unconstitutional.

What's next

Several bills before the Legislature would repeal the transit portion of the motor vehicle excise tax, but all await action in the House. Senate Bill 6036 was approved by the full Senate on Feb. 8 by a 33-15 vote.

Locally, Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Thurston County, opposed it, while Sens. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, and Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, favored it. SB 5959 sits in the Senate Transportation Committee, while HB 2125 and HB 2234 sit in the House Transportation Committee.

Immediate effects

No tax will be collected immediately, although the Department of Licensing is getting a planning effort under way to set up a system for collecting the tax. If lawmakers repeal that action or if all transit agencies say they don't want to collect the tax, then it wouldn't be collected. People might want to register their cars now, rather than waiting.

How much money

In 1999, when the state last collected the tax, it raised $208.6 million. Of that, $7.3 million went to Intercity Transit in Thurston County and $700,663 to Mason County Transit.

On the Web:

- Supreme Court ruling

- Legislature

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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