King, Snohomish county voters block tax repeal

Voters were turning down a chance to cut their gas taxes in the highest-stakes measure on Tuesday's ballot.

The vote totals showed them rejecting Initiative 912, which would have repealed a 9.5-cent-a-gallon gas tax passed by the Legislature in April.

Most rural counties were voting in favor of the measure, while King and Snohomish counties were overwhelmingly against it. Pierce and Clark counties appeared to be about evenly divided.

In other ballot measures, doctors conceded the defeat of their initiative to limit damages in medical-malpractice cases. A second malpractice initiative, sponsored by lawyers, also was rejected.

A measure to expand the state smoking ban in public places was approved.

Polls early in the campaign had shown support for the gas-tax repeal, and initiative opponents worried frustration over high gasoline prices would work against them.

But early this morning, the initiative was trailing by an increasing margin, and a dramatic shift in the count would be needed to change the outcome.

If I-912 fails, "it's a new day. It's no longer anti-tax, anti-tax," said Rep. Ed Murray, chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

The vote shows that if lawmakers "do the courageous thing, voters will support you," Murray, D-Seattle, said.

The gas-tax initiative would have repealed the 9.5-cent-a-gallon tax the Legislature passed earlier this year as part of an $8.5 billion tax package to finance highway projects across the state. The initiative would leave in place a diesel-fuel tax and weight fees.

Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman has an initiative in the works to eliminate weight fees approved by the Legislature. Plus, the tax package passed by the Legislature provides only partial funding for multibillion-dollar projects such as replacing the Highway 520 floating bridge.

And the gas tax would give the state about enough money to rebuild the Alaskan Way Viaduct, but not enough to replace it with a tunnel, as the city of Seattle prefers.

The central Puget Sound region would still have to come up with several billion dollars in additional funds for the bridge and the tunnel.

Still, I-912 opponents were pleased with the vote.

"The numbers coming in from King County are looking really good," said Mark Funk, a spokesman for the No on 912 campaign. "We're not willing to call this election, but if someone three months ago said we'd have a lead like this on election night, I wouldn't have believed them."

Brett Bader, a spokesman for the I-912 campaign, acknowledged things weren't looking good for his side. "They [the votes] are trending against us," he said. "I think we have an uphill climb."

A coalition of business, labor and environmental groups fought the measure. The No on 912 campaign spent more than $2.8 million, about nine times the amount spent by initiative supporters. Major contributors to the opposition campaign included Boeing; Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates; and Steve Ballmer, the software company's chief executive. They each contributed $100,000.

The campaign against I-912 pounded the message that many of the state's busiest roads are in desperate need of repair and expansion, including Interstate 405 and the damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct. Nearly $3 billion would go to ease choke points and congestion, and more would go to safety improvements. Opponents of repealing the tax increase argued I-912 would delay needed highway work for years and drive up costs.

"I thought long and hard about it, but I'm voting no," Pat Fay, a voter from Kirkland, said Tuesday. "If we don't spend the money, we'll be going back a half-dozen decades. We won't have any progress on transportation."

I-912 supporters relied on a mostly volunteer effort to get out their message.

The group stunned state officials when it got I-912 on the ballot by collecting more than 420,000 signatures in just 32 days without using paid signature gatherers.

The Yes on 912 campaign argued that projects funded by the new tax wouldn't relieve traffic congestion and that many wouldn't even be finished without another tax increase later.

And, they said, there's no guarantee the state would use the money on the projects it has identified.

The failure of I-912 would represent a rare occasion where voters have rejected an attempt to lower their taxes.

A series of successful initiatives in Washington have cut taxes and limited spending.

In 1999, for example, voters approved Eyman's Initiative 695, a measure aimed at eliminating the state motor-vehicle excise tax. And in 2001, voters approved Initiative 747, which limits annual property-tax growth to 1 percent or less.

Also, two prominent proposals to increase taxes have been soundly defeated at the ballot. Sixty percent of the state's voters rejected Initiative 884 last year. The measure would have increased the state sales tax by a penny to raise $1 billion annually for education.

In 2002, more than 60 percent of the voters rejected Referendum 51, which would have increased the gas tax 9 cents to pay for transportation projects.

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com