Seattle: Supersized tax

Thursday, August 17, 2006

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Seattle voters are said to welcome any new tax. The November property tax boost for road maintenance, bridges and other transportation improvements may test the conventional wisdom.

Supporters of the roughly $1.6 billion proposal would be smart to approach selling the plan as if they were facing a tough audience. There are a number of reasons for voters to be skeptical.

As a Seattle P-I story by Angela Galloway pointed out, the property tax is advertised as a 20-year measure. Most levies are imposed for much more limited terms, often six or eight years. Perhaps the tax should be permanent, although that's not how it is being sold. But keeping this tax from becoming permanent depends on a future City Council honoring the intent of today's council. Will the 2026 council even know the names of today's members, much less feel guided by their wisdom?

There's also an unusual degree of flexibility in the tax, which could grow either at the rate of construction inflation or 5 percent a year. Even though the lower of the two rates would prevail, this is a different concept.

Then there's the size of the package. Perhaps buoyed by last-minute calls from Mayor Greg Nickels, the council swept aside talk of a smaller, more focused proposal and stuck with $1.6 billion.

But the supersizing of the final measure brought something unusual for Seattle: a split, 6-3 vote on whether to put the proposal on the ballot. Councilmen David Della, Tom Rasmussen and Peter Steinbrueck voted no.

Steinbrueck called the division unusual. With that start, this election could be quite different.

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