Car Tab Fee Rebates Might Be Coming

SUMNER, WA - A bill that would reduce car tab fees and give rebates to drivers in the Sound Transit taxing district passed the state House Wednesday. The bill would also cost Sound Transit possibly billions in the midst of a massive expansion of light rail and bus service around the region.

Last February, drivers in the Sound Transit taxing area began getting shocking car tab bills. One man, a Tesla driver, got a bill for close to $1,500. Sound Transit 3, approved by voters in 2016, included a car tab fee increase to fund transit projects. Additionally, Sound Transit uses a formula that over-values cars compared to consumer guides like Kelly Blue Book.

HB 2201 passed the House Wednesday 60-37. The law would give rebates for past car tab fee over-payments, and switch to a vehicle depreciation schedule closer to Kelly Blue Book. HB 2201 would impose a depreciation schedule created in 2006 by a committee that studied creating statewide car excise tax.

The bill now heads to the Democrat-controlled state Senate. According to Sound Transit, a law reducing car tabs could cost the agency about $2.3 billion over the next few decades. The $54 billion ST3 package expands light rail from Everett to Tacoma, and creates new express bus service along I-405 between Burien and Lynnwood among other projects.

Image courtesy state of Washington