No rebate from monorail project

As Seattle Monorail Project goes out of business, the project's leaders decided Thursday night to give $520,000 in leftover money to fix the old Seattle Center Monorail — instead of sending it back to taxpayers as a rebate.

A rebate would have averaged about $14 for 30,000 motorists who paid the car tax this June.

At one time, the SMP expected to have $3 million to $4 million left over, based on sales of unused property for stations. But some land bidders bailed out or lowered their offers, while incoming taxes lagged behind projections.

Also, some board members worried about being sued if they gave back the money, since there's no precedent for that in state law, Chairwoman Beth Goldberg said.

The SMP attempted to build a 14-mile "Green Line" from Ballard to West Seattle, but voters and city officials stopped the project last year. The agency was facing chronic shortages in a car-tab tax, and the likelihood that a half-century of taxes would be needed to finance the line.

Meanwhile, the 42-year-old monorail needs $4.5 million to replace and rebuild old parts.

Those voting to give the $520,000 to the old monorail were Peter Goddu, Don Covey, Vlad Oustimovitch, and Rick Sundberg

Voting for a rebate were Jim Nobles and Goldberg. Both were elected to the board last fall on a platform of dismantling the agency.