I-695 -- Average Car Owner Would Save About $140

* Initiative 695 would save the average car owner about $140. License tabs on a 1995 Mercury Mystique, valued at $10,000, would drop from $258 to $30. Tabs for a $1,000, 1978, barely running and well-dented Ford pickup would drop from $45 to the same $30 level.

* License tab tax makes up about 7 percent of the state's two-year $20.6 billion operating budget. The tabs are slated to bring in more than $750 million next year and nearly $900 million in 2001.

* The license tab tax began in 1937 as a way to replace property tax on cars. The property tax proved difficult to enforce and confusing for assessors who were forced to determine the value of each car in their jurisdiction. I-695 opponents say that when the license tab tax is lifted on cars, the 1.1 percent property tax will take over again.

* About 25 percent of the tax pays for local government programs, including $64 million for public safety planned for next year. Nearly $37 million is used to subsidize cities and counties that make less than 70 percent of the state average in sales tax. Statewide, 168 cities get the subsidy.

* License tab money is slated to pay off $2.4 billion in bonds for a six-year road improvement plan approved by voters in 1998 as Referendum 49. If I-695 passes, the bonds are history. Road improvements have been put on hold pending I-695's outcome. Locally, Referendum 49 money was slated to put in an interchange at the intersection of Highway 12 and Old Naches Highway, rebuild the Toppenish Creek bridge on Highway 97 and expand State Route 24 into a four-lane road between Interstate 82 and Keyes Road.

* Initiative supporters say the state can tap into its $1 billion budget surplus to cover the losses from I-695. The nonprofit Washington Research Council, a government watchdog group, says the state can only get to about $400 million without a constitutional amendment that will allow spending the emergency reserve fund established by Initiative 601. That initiative capped growth of the state budget and required lawmakers to keep a 5 percent savings account.

* Monday, the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a lunch forum with a debater from each side of I-695. Tickets cost $15 and are available by calling 248-2021.

The event is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel Yakima Valley, 1507 N. First St.

* Tuesday, the Kiwanis Club of Yakima hosts a debate featuring initiative sponsor Tim Eyman sparring with Clarence Gibson of the Washington State Labor Council. The debate starts at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday at Cavanaughs Gateway Hotel, 9 N. Ninth St. For information, call Russ Dix at 452-0405.

* Thursday morning, the Yakima Republican Women's Club is hosting an I-695 forum. County Commissioner Jim Lewis will speak against the measure, facing off with Yakima businessman Jerry Mellen. The event is set for 11:30 a.m. at the Women's Century Club, 304 N. Second St. For reservations, call Florence Hay at 453-0000.

* Thursday night, the Yakima County League of Women Voters hosts a forum on Initiative 695 and other ballot issues. Speakers haven't been announced. The event is set for 7 p.m. at Franklin Middle School, 410 S. 19th Ave.