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State transportation revenues are still below pre-pandemic estimates

Revenues to funds subject to the outlook (NGFO), which fund the operating budget, were essentially back to pre-pandemic levels by March 2021. With the Nov. 2021 forecast, NGFO revenues are up $8.566 billion (5.1%) through 2023–25 (compared to the pre-pandemic Feb. 2020 forecast). State transportation revenues are a different story. According to the Nov. 2021 […]

Good news for state and local transportation budgets: state Supreme Court finds I-976 unconstitutional

Today the state Supreme Court held that Initiative 976 is unconstitutional because it “contains more than one subject, and its subject is not accurately expressed in its title.” I-976 was approved by voters last year. It would have limited vehicle license fees to $30, revoked the authority of transportation benefit districts to impose vehicle fees, […]

Given the economic downturn, Gov. Inslee vetoed some provisions in the transportation budget

Gov. Inslee signed the supplemental transportation budget yesterday, but he vetoed several sections. As passed by the Legislature, the budget appropriated $10.373 billion. (That’s an increase of $538.0 million over original 2019–21 appropriations.) Transportation budget writers were working under constraints imposed by the passage of I-976 last year. The Seattle Times reported, The $10.4 billion […]

The transportation revenue forecast and I-976

Both the Senate and House Transportation committees held work sessions last week that included discussions of the impacts of I-976. (TVW has video of the Senate and House committee meetings.) A Senate staff presentation showed balance sheets for each affected account. Given the 2019–21 appropriations made earlier this year and the revenue reductions under the […]

Tax policy after the election

In the wake of the passage of I-976 and the results of some local races, tax policy is an emerging theme. For example, King County Executive Dow Constantine used the occasion to call for comprehensive state tax reform: Our state’s tax system is inefficient, unfair, volatile, inadequate, and bad for business. Local governments have few […]

How to respond to I-976?

There is a lot of talk today about how state and local governments will respond to the passage of I-976. In the Seattle Times, Heidi Groover and Mike Lindblom have a thorough story on the issue. The fiscal impact statement for the initiative estimated that it would reduce state revenue by $478.1 million in the […]

The budget implications of I-976

Heidi Groover has a story in the Seattle Times today that considers what might happen with the state budget if I-976 is approved. (I-976 would reduce vehicle fees and revoke local governments’ authority to levy certain transportation fees and taxes.) The initiative would significantly reduce state and local funding for transportation. As we wrote in […]

More on the proposed new tax on Uber and Lyft in Seattle

Kevin Schofield of SCC Insight provides a rundown of some of the issues the Seattle City Council is debating as part of the 2020 budget. One of these is Mayor Durkan’s proposal to levy a new tax on transportation network companies (TNC; i.e., Uber and Lyft). The Council’s staff memo on the proposal includes some […]

Washington cities largely fund transportation from local revenue sources

According to a study commissioned by the Joint Transportation Committee (JTC), Washington cities collectively face an annual gap of about $1 billion between their available funding for transportation and their transportation preservation and maintenance needs. As Lens reports, the study was presented to the Washington State Transportation Commission yesterday. (The $1 billion figure does not […]

New brief: I-976: Reversing Transportation Taxes and Fees

I-976 would limit annual state and local vehicle license fees to $30, revoke the authority for transportation benefit districts to impose vehicle fees, repeal the state motor vehicle sales tax, revoke Sound Transit’s authority to impose a motor vehicle excise tax (if possible to do so under the terms of its bonds), and specify that […]