Seattle forced to cut transportation tax plan
'Never-ending' property levy drew complaints
Faced with growing opposition, Seattle officials said Tuesday that they're scaling back a transportation property tax proposal to raise just over a third the amount initially proposed -- and to specify a time limit.
City property owners still will be asked to pay an additional 38 cents per $1,000 of valuation, about $155 for the first year of the tax on a $400,000 home. But the tax will be imposed for just nine years instead of 20 as initially planned. In the ninth year, taxpayers will be asked to vote on extending time limit.
The first measure was controversial from the moment Mayor Greg Nickels introduced it in May and it passed on a split City Council vote just a month ago. Relatively few changes were made because the council wanted to act on all the transportation projects at once.
"We wanted to get the whole job done," council President Nick Licata said, explaining why most council members voted for a larger plan. But complaints increased dramatically after a Seattle P-I story noted that the tax could be levied indefinitely.
The "Never-ending tax?" story headline "kicked it off," Councilwoman Jan Drago said of the flood of complaints.
"We could not fight a sound bite," Licata said.
Continue reading this article from the Seattle P-I:
City forced to cut tax plan
