Supporters of the $60 car-tab fee increase on the November ballot say Seattleites want what the measure offers: faster, more reliable transit, stepped-up road maintenance, new sidewalks, crosswalks and family-friendly bikeways.

Opponents are equally convinced that voters will reject the measure when they learn more details about the projects recommended for funding: Almost 50 percent goes to transit but none for new bus routes or service hours; none for the 60 bridges across the city whose condition is rated "poor," according to city transportation officials; and about 20 percent to bike and pedestrian improvements, which could include 60 miles of new bike lanes and 1,240 new bike parking spots.

The 10-year, $204 million measure that will appear on the ballot as Seattle Transportation Benefit District Proposition 1, has proved unusually divisive, despite unanimous approval by the City Council, which sent it to voters, and strong support from Mayor Mike McGinn.

"This will enable us to catch up on maintenance some, not all, to catch up on transit and make transit improvements. I think it's a good investment in the future of the city," McGinn said.

Environmental and transportation-advocacy groups endorse the measure. But labor unions, advocates for low-income people and the city's Democratic district organizations are divided.

Opponents have raised a number of questions, including the wisdom of asking for another fee increase while the economy is struggling.

The City Council approved a $20 car-tab fee that took effect in May. In August, the county approved another $20 — to be collected in 2012 and 2013 to preserve Metro Transit bus service.

So, passage of the additional $60 fee would mean a $100 increase in vehicle-licensing fees, from about $80 to $180 per car, according to state figures, or a 125 percent jump.

Homeowners are still paying for the $365 million Bridging the Gap levy — approved by voters in 2006 to reduce the $1.8 billion backlog in city transportation maintenance projects.

And the mix of projects in the current proposal (although the City Council can make changes later) — heavier on transit than on road repairs, just nine blocks of new sidewalks per year — strikes some critics as misguided.

"It's wrongheaded and tone-deaf," said John Littel, political director for the Northwest Carpenters Union. "I'm all for money going to good investments, but I really felt these were not a good set of investments. And our members felt it was not a good time to be taxing working families," said Littel, who cast the lone dissenting vote on the advisory panel that recommended a car-tab-fee package to the City Council.

Kate Joncas, executive director of the Downtown Seattle Association and co-chairwoman of the advisory committee, disagrees.

She said the total raised by the measure would make only a small dent in the city's maintenance backlog. Rather than dedicate it all to road repair, (70 percent of Bridging the Gap goes toward roads) she said the committee wanted to address a variety of needs and invest in the future.

The measure funds improvements to major bus corridors that will benefit all users, Joncas said. And it includes $18 million to plan and design future rail lines, such as a downtown streetcar connecting the South Lake Union and the future First Hill streetcar lines.

Still, she acknowledges the economy may play a role in the election.

"It's not that we don't need to do these projects, but is this the right time?" she asked.

By Seattle election standards, neither side has raised a lot of money for the campaign.

Streets For All, the group backing the measure, reported $35,647 in donations, with the biggest contribution, $7,000 coming from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77; $5,000 from Paul Allen's Vulcan; and $1,275 from the Cascade Bicycle Club, as of Friday.

Two groups working against the measure have raised less than a third of that amount.

Citizens Against Raising Car Tabs (CART) reported $8,974 in contributions, with the largest, $5,000, coming from Garneau Properties, whose owner, Faye Garneau, runs the Aurora Merchants Association.

John Fox, a low-income housing advocate and Ted Van Dyk, a retired national policy analyst, have each donated $500, according to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

Supporters acknowledge that many would-be contributors are tapped out by other campaigns — the summer tunnel referendum, five City Council races and the Eyman anti-tolling initiative, which is also on the Nov. 8 ballot.

"The big donors and businesses don't have a lot of money," said Craig Benjamin, co-chair of the Streets for All campaign and the policy and government-affairs director for the Cascade Bicycle Club.

The campaign plans at least one mailing to voters, as well as nightly phone banks and doorbelling by volunteers, Benjamin said.

The pro campaign has picked up endorsements from a number of environmental groups including Sierra Club, King County Conservation Voters and the Washington Environmental Council.

It also has the support of many unions, including the King County Labor Council, transit operators and drivers, and the Machinists union.

Don Guillot, business manager for Local 77, the electricians union, said the measure advances green energy with its proposed $20 million investment to extend electric-trolley bus routes.

"This means transportation improvements for the city and work for our members," he said.

Fox, director of the Seattle Displacement Coalition, calls the proposed fee "colossally regressive" because people would pay the same amount whether they drive a "$500 Pinto or a $50,000 Lexus." And he questions whether spending $18 million for streetcar planning would commit Seattle to future taxes for new rail lines.

"We're giving the go-ahead to projects that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars while zero will go to bridge repairs. Do we launch brand-new systems when we can't afford to fix what we've got?" he asked.

But Sharon Lee, executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute, said people with low incomes and seniors rely heavily on transit and would benefit from the package of road and bus-corridor improvements and the extension of streetcar lines.

"Many of our clients don't own cars. They want to get to Capitol Hill, First Hill, the International District. It's in our interest to have affordable housing where people can hop on the bus, hop on the streetcar. For $60 a year, you improve speed and reliability."

Critics, including Fox, say the package won't fix any of the city's bridges. But Lee noted that repairing the Magnolia Bridge, at an estimated $265 million, would cost more than the 10-year total from the new tab fees.

"Not everybody is going to benefit from a new Magnolia Bridge," she said.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com