Sales-tax increase a vote killer, key players say

By Eric Pryne
Seattle Times staff reporter

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An influential group of business, labor and environmental leaders agreed yesterday that a 0.4 percentage-point sales-tax increase that county officials have tentatively endorsed to pay for most of a proposed regional transportation package is too much.

"They agreed it would kill the package (at the polls)," said Metropolitan King County Councilwoman Julia Patterson, D-SeaTac, who chaired the closed-door summit.

The consensus among such a diverse group is likely to have a significant impact on the board of the three-county Regional Transportation Investment District, which has been trying to piece together a plan to submit to voters since mid-2002.

The nongovernment group, brought together to advise the board, includes representatives of chambers of commerce, builders and Realtors; major employers including Boeing, Microsoft and Vulcan; Eastside developers such as Rowley Enterprises and Kemper Development; labor organizations including the state Labor Council; and such environmental groups as 1000 Friends of Washington and the Transportation Choices Coalition.

Some in the group want more freeway lanes. Others want more transit. Without the support of most, if not all, of them, it's widely believed any package would fail.

While the regional board hasn't agreed on projects, it tentatively endorsed a $14 billion tax plan last fall that, in addition to the sales-tax increase, also would impose a $75 annual vehicle-license fee, 0.3 percent motor-vehicle excise tax and 2.8-cent regional gas tax.

The sales-tax boost would generate most of the revenue.

But a November poll the group drafted and financed at Patterson's instigation suggested a big sales-tax increase would lose votes for any package. Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce President Steve Leahy, spokesman for the group, said the poll played a major part in yesterday's group decision.

But participants didn't agree on how much of a sales-tax increase might be acceptable, he added: "Different people said 0.1, 0.2 (percentage points)."

Yesterday's summit was called to develop consensus recommendations on issues that have divided the regional board for months, including:

• What taxes and projects to propose.

• Whether to ask the Legislature to amend the regional district's authorizing legislation to give it more revenue sources and flexibility in selecting projects.

• How big the package should be.

• Whether to include money to extend Sound Transit's planned Seattle light-rail line north to Northgate and south to SeaTac.

Most of those decisions were put off. Leahy and Patterson said the group named an eight-member committee — four business representatives, two labor officials and two environmentalists — to explore those questions and report back in two weeks.

Time may be short. The Legislature convenes Monday but is expected to adjourn in March. And regional district officials have said that, to make the November ballot, a package must clear the seven-member board and a 25-member "planning committee" by early spring.

Leahy and Patterson, an alternate on the regional board, said the group agreed to urge the board to continue working toward a fall vote for now, though some political insiders contend 2005 makes more sense. The regional district has few revenue options that its preliminary tax proposal hasn't already tapped. If the board follows the summit participants and trims its reliance on the sales tax, it would have two choices: Build fewer projects, or ask the Legislature for more tax alternatives.

While the group made no decision on that question yesterday, some business interests favor opening up the district's authorizing legislation.

The transportation committee of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce issued a statement this week urging the Legislature to consider such revenue options as applying the sales tax to gasoline and charging motorists an annual fee based on how many miles they drive.

But other business interests may disagree: The legislative agenda of nine Eastside chambers of commerce, for instance, includes a call to "maintain the integrity" of the authorizing legislation. Leahy said the Seattle chamber won't lobby in Olympia to change the law unless the summit group gives its assent.

Amending the law could open the door for funding light rail, which now is prohibited: The law requires that most money be spent on projects associated with major state highways. Many suburban interests support that approach; environmentalists and many Seattle politicians want it changed. Patterson and Leahy said the summit group did agree yesterday to urge the regional board to seriously consider the feasibility of a joint ballot with Sound Transit, a course that might satisfy both sides.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

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