Transportation tax sought

Mayor Greg Nickels would like to ask Seattle voters for at least $25 million a year in new property taxes to repair crumbling local streets and bridges, and perhaps underwrite a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

In his fifth annual State of the City speech, on Monday, Nickels said he would like to put the ballot measure before voters this November.

The city had a $500 million maintenance backlog, according to a 2004 report by a panel of civic leaders, which found that about one-third of city bridges were in poor condition.

The panel recommended a $25 million-a-year property-tax levy, although that was less than the city needed to keep the backlog from growing.

"To put it mildly we're in a bit of a fix," Nickels said. "We now have only a fraction of what we need to maintain our streets and bridges."

The amount and type of ballot measure — whether it is a levy or bond measure — remains to be decided. It's unclear what it would cost the average homeowner.

Nickels plans to create a citizen committee to gauge the public's appetite for the tax measure. Any proposal that would go to voters would first need to be approved by, and could be modified by, the City Council.

Nickels remained bullish on his preference for a tunnel to replace the viaduct: "We will not tolerate a larger and more disruptive new freeway blocking Seattle's waterfront for another 50 years."

Nickels said the ballot measure could be a way to help pay for a new tunnel to replace the worn-out viaduct. The mayor is now counting on spending about $500 million in city money from unspecified sources to augment state, federal and Port of Seattle contributions to pay for what could be a $3.2 billion tunnel.

City Council President Nick Licata said the mayor's pitch would be a tough sell to voters.

"He needs to convince the public we're spending wisely. I think the average taxpayer is going to say 'Why are we raising taxes to fix our roads when the mayor says we should build a tunnel? Why can't we use that [tunnel] money to fix our roads and bridges?' "

Seattle voters rejected a $90 million bond for local transportation improvements in 1997, Licata noted.

The 2004 report found that the city was falling further behind on street repaving and basic road repairs partly because it had lost some of its funding for transportation fixes. In 1995, the state Supreme Court ruled the city's street-utility fee was unconstitutional, and in 2002 state voters approved Initiative 776, which eliminated the vehicle-license fee from city revenues.

Darryl Smith, president of the Rainier Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the 2004 advisory group, praised Nickels for addressing the maintenance backlog. "The backlog is real, and we've got to take a whack at it. It's not sexy stuff but I think people understand it's important."

Smith said the panel proposed a $25 million annual levy because it seemed to be an amount that voters could "stomach," and it was "big enough to make an impact."

But two years ago, Nickels shied away from such a levy. At the time, city leaders were about to put a $117 million, seven-year, Families and Education Levy to voters. That levy, which voters approved, costs the average Seattle homeowner about $65 a year.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174