Your opinion on King County Prop1 ($60 car tab tax)? (Seattle: fit in, house)

[kaonevar]

I think public transit should be like schools--tax everyone for it. I feel like the over-priced car tabs are punishing me for owning a car I rarely use (I mostly use public transit). I'd rather just pay it as a general tax.

[GoBlueInSeattle]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

My registration for my plates in Texas was $55. And they have no state income tax.
WA isn't the only state to be without a state income tax. Still, I would rather just pay $60 to the bus people direct than have it added to my plate registration.

The vast majority of states have an income tax. And Texas is a ****hole.

[fnh]

Originally Posted by kaonevar

My registration for my plates in Texas was $55. And they have no state income tax.
WA isn't the only state to be without a state income tax. Still, I would rather just pay $60 to the bus people direct than have it added to my plate registration.

I just renewed the registration on my TX car and it cost me closer to $100.

I own homes in both Houston and in Seattle, my home in Houston is worth less but the property taxes are triple what I pay in Seattle. For that extra taxation in TX you get terrible public services (including schools.)

In Seattle I use both cars and public transit. It's fantastic to have options. In Houston there is really no option. There is outrage in Houston over any proposal to improve public transit (We fought Mexico for our freedom and the liberty to drive cars!) but I suppose most people assume roads are built by road fairies for free.

People who never drive are paying for your roads, too. I paid school taxes before I had kids, and I continue to pay them even though my own kids are in private school. Public transit is a public GOOD, truly benefiting drivers and riders alike. Ira had a great post way back, the car tabs solution is imperfect but it's the option we have right now.

[kaonevar]

Originally Posted by fnh

I just renewed the registration on my TX car and it cost me closer to $100.

I own homes in both Houston and in Seattle, my home in Houston is worth less but the property taxes are triple what I pay in Seattle. For that extra taxation in TX you get terrible public services (including schools.)

In Seattle I use both cars and public transit. It's fantastic to have options. In Houston there is really no option. There is outrage in Houston over any proposal to improve public transit (We fought Mexico for our freedom and the liberty to drive cars!) but I suppose most people assume roads are built by road fairies for free.

People who never drive are paying for your roads, too. I paid school taxes before I had kids, and I continue to pay them even though my kids are in private school. Public transit is a public GOOD, truly benefiting drivers and riders alike. Ira had a great post way back, the car tabs solution is imperfect but it's the option we have right now.

You don't have to sell me on how crappy Texas is! There's a reason we left it!
Yeah, our property taxes down there were horrible. And the public transit and schools sucked.
See my post after that were I mentioned that I want to pay the $60, but have it be a tax on everyone that goes to public transit. Lumping it on to car tabs makes it a punishment (for those with cars only), and that's not cool to me. I want more public transit and better funded public transit, just not in the way they are going about it.

[GoBlueInSeattle]

Originally Posted by fnh

I just renewed the registration on my TX car and it cost me closer to $100.

I own homes in both Houston and in Seattle, my home in Houston is worth less but the property taxes are triple what I pay in Seattle. For that extra taxation in TX you get terrible public services (including schools.)

In Seattle I use both cars and public transit. It's fantastic to have options. In Houston there is really no option. There is outrage in Houston over any proposal to improve public transit (We fought Mexico for our freedom and the liberty to drive cars!) but I suppose most people assume roads are built by road fairies for free.

People who never drive are paying for your roads, too. I paid school taxes before I had kids, and I continue to pay them even though my own kids are in private school. Public transit is a public GOOD, truly benefiting drivers and riders alike. Ira had a great post way back, the car tabs solution is imperfect but it's the option we have right now.

Are you sure you are from Texas?

[tridentsx]

I just renewed my registration in Collin County tx and paid $56, no state income tax and affordable housing.

Why dont they just increase the tickets for public transport to cover the cost of public transport, and introduce tolls on the highways to get money for road infrastructure projects?

Seems simple compared to the socialist scheme of punishing car owners and rewarding public transport users.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by tridentsx

I just renewed my registration in Collin County tx and paid $56, no state income tax and affordable housing.

Why dont they just increase the tickets for public transport to cover the cost of public transport, and introduce tolls on the highways to get money for road infrastructure projects?

Seems simple compared to the socialist scheme of punishing car owners and rewarding public transport users.

It's an unfair way to get the money they need to maintain roads and transit, but C'mon! Socialist? Aren't public schools, by their nature socialist? Libraries? Parks? Shouldn't book readers be paying for books?
The way the tax system is set up in this state is screwed up, and when they do put something on the ballot, it's usually some ungodly mess, because they're trying to please a lot of different political constituencies. I completely agree that car tabs to pay for transit is wrong. But simply charging users the full amount without considering why is wrong too. I've never been a crime victim. Why should I have to pay for police. My house has never burned down. Why am I paying for that socialist fire department?

[analogkid84]

Interesting to hear folks chime in from Texas. I live about 30 miles NE of Houston now, having moved here in early 2012 after living in Western WA for 25 years, but being caught up in a biotech layoff. I just paid $64 for renewal of my tabs for a 2008 Hyundai Accent. For a place that claims a lower COL and a drive to stave off taxes, it hasn't rung try with our family so far. I also had to shell out $40 for an annual "safety" inspection which, as far as I can tell, doesn't necessarily put safer cars on the road at all. Cell phone use while driving, while bad everywhere I imagine, is horribly rampant here and far-and-away exceeds what I saw in Washington. Our "assessed" home value just went from $159K last year to $175K this year. I don't know when it will happen, but I cannot wait to move back to Washington some day. It probably won't be the same, but for quality-of-life reasons alone, I'll be ready.

[Hemlock140]

When I do drive to work and back, it takes me 20 minutes to get from my waterfront office to I90. The traffic backs up at Mercer Island, slows again at the 405 interchange, and again at Eastgate. That's at 3:30, and it gets worse later. When I take the bus (216, 60 foot) it's standing room only to issaquah Highlands, that's about 80 pqassengers. Add to that the other buses using that route, such as 554, 550, 218, 219 212, some running every 10 minutes, and you have a lot more cars on the freeway, just do the math. If you drive and this measure fails, plan on taking a snack and drink with you for the commute. You might also expect top see gas prices rise with increased demand, and car insurance rate hikes. Yes, I consider it an investment.

[civic94]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

If you drive and this measure fails, plan on taking a snack and drink with you for the commute. You might also expect top see gas prices rise with increased demand, and car insurance rate hikes. Yes, I consider it an investment.

by the way your writing, it makes sense. i wonder if car tabs were to increase even more, say $200 extra per year(just inflating the idea) and king county gets much better in terms of public transportation, in the end drivers get cheaper insurance, gas, and less traffic.

this 60 dollar car tab tax, which is $5 per month, i can see that many people will break even by paying $5 per month to save $5 in gas.