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State now goes after motorists who avoid excise tax
State now goes after motorists who avoid excise tax
Do you have questions about I-695? Ask us and we'll try to answer them in
our coverage of the statewide ballot measure between now and Election Day Nov.
2.
I-695 would abolish the state motor vehicle excise tax and replace it with
a flat $30-per-vehicle fee. It also would require a public vote on future tax
and fee increases by state and local government.
Q: I want to correct the newspaper article in which you said that if people
are caught driving with expired license tabs, they risk getting a ticket. That
used to be the truth, but not anymore. I just saw a bulletin that said our Legislature
changed the law. That's not even a crime anymore. That's not even an infraction.
We don't have the authority to stop them. Only the State Patrol does.
- An unidentified caller who said he was a police officer
A: That's not quite true.
If police spot a vehicle that has Washington license plates with expired tabs,
any officer - city, county, state - can write that driver a ticket, State Patrol
Capt. Glenn Cramer said.
The portion of the law that the Legislature changed earlier this year dealt
only with out-of-state motorists driving in Washington with expired license
tabs or those suspected of failing to register in Washington.
It is now true that local police officers cannot write a ticket or arrest
such a motorist, but the officers can refer the case to the State Patrol, which
will handle it administratively, Cramer said.
The Legislature "decriminalized" such violations by out-of-state vehicles
because lawmakers wanted to be able to crack down on motorists who live in Washington
but register their vehicles in other states - such as Oregon - to avoid paying
Washington's motor vehicle excise tax.
Usually, the uncollected excise tax is greater than the expired tab fines,
which run between $66 and $157.
Q: People keep talking about how much money the state is going to lose if
Initiative 695 passes. What about all the money that taxpayers get to keep?
If we spend it, how much sales tax would be collected to offset the money that's
lost because the excise tax money is repealed?
- Todd Carroll, Spanaway
A: If the motor vehicle excise tax is repealed, taxpayers would save about
$743 million in 2000 - more in subsequent years.
If you assume all that money would be spent on taxable items, it would generate
about $55 million to $60 million a year in state and local sales tax collections.
Theoretically, that would somewhat soften the loss of $743 million in motor
vehicle excise tax collections.
But governments spend money, too - and therefore generate some additional
tax revenue.
Seattle economist Dick Conway, a member of the Governor's Economic Advisers
Board, said without an in-depth study of government spending and taxpayer spending
in this instance, "you'd have to assume they are a wash."
Neither supporters nor opponents of I-695 have done such a study.
Q: My husband is a Pierce Transit bus driver, and he was told he would be
laid off in March if I-695 passes. Do any of these governments have emergency
plans they are going to submit or are they just going to permanently cut out
all of their services?
- Anonymous
A: Pierce Transit is considering a possible 25 percent cut in service next
year if I-695 passes. and the agency has alerted its employees that 100-150
of them "might" be laid off, agency spokeswoman Jean Jackman said.
"We have not told any individual employee 'you will be laid off' because we
don't know yet," Jackman said.
If I-695 passes and layoffs are necessary, employees will be notified in December
they could be laid off in early February or May 2000, Jackman said.
Transit board members Paul Miller and Doug Sutherland have said that after
the agency hears from the public about public service cuts, they may consider
asking voters to raise the local sales tax for transit.
Jackman said the agency also would look to the Legislature for some financial
help if the ballot measure passes.
- - -
Send your questions to state government and transportation reporter Joseph
Turner at 253-597-8436, joe.turner@mail.tribnet.com or The News Tribune,
PO Box 11000, Tacoma 98411. Please be sure to include your name (spell it, please)
and telephone number so that we can reach you if necessary.
10/07/1999
