$20 vehicle tab approved in East Wenatchee

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$20 vehicle tab approved in East Wenatchee

Originally published November 14, 2012 at 10:19 a.m., updated November 14, 2012 at 2:20 p.m.

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Click here to watch the video Dennis Hendricks posted on The Wenatchee World's new video website, GoWedia.com, opposing the car tab tax.

EAST WENATCHEE — City Councilmembers Tuesday approved a $20 car tab that will be used to repair mostly residential streets.

The tab passed by a 6-1 vote with Councilman Wayne Barnhart opposing.

Collection would likely begin in July 2013. The tab will be collected on all vehicles with license plates registered to people who live within East Wenatchee city limits. According to state records, that would amount to about 8,000 vehicles.

The city expects to receive $75,000 its first year, based on six months of collections and approximately $150,000 in 2014.

Mayor Steve Lacy said by email this morning that he doesn’t expect the city will have enough in collections to actually begin the first street-improvement project until 2014.

Tuesday’s vote turns the city into a “Transportation Benefit District” with the authority to impose and collect the tab.

The City Council had been pondering the tab since September, but put the issue on hold to give city staff a chance to ensure the funds could be used to repair residential streets, and not just main thoroughfares.

Lacy has said that he heard complaints from citizens about neighborhood street conditions during the last mayoral campaign. He was reelected to his fourth, 4-year term in 2011.

The council approved a 1-percent property tax increase last year to pay for residential street repairs, but this is expected to generate only about $16,000, city officials have said.

State and federal grants are available to repair major arterials, but not residential streets. After the city pays for matching funds required of these grants, it doesn’t leave much cash left over for secondary routes, Lacy has said.

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com

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coolers53 7 months ago

Wow!!!!! so against all reason this nuisance tax was passed, I find it just disgusting. Next question is , is this a forever tax? Will it ever end? and if not what do we need to do to end it? since we have all voted to end ever increasing taxs just like this one.

lonedog3 7 months ago

this is a forever tax that, yes, was passed against the majority of taxpayers. Even these taxes that will strain the tax payers budget even more will fail to do anything towards street repair unless the city uses low bid fly-by-nighters to do the work over compentent qualified companies. we the people of east wenatchee have been lied to again and now forced to pay higher taxes. we are being nickle and dimed to death by the foolish wasteful spending habits of the elected people.

snowtiger509 7 months ago

Just a FYI - they actually have the authority to impose as much as a $40 increase... keep your eyes (and hands) on your wallets! You know it's coming.

pchelp 7 months ago

The $20 tabs seem reasonable to me but I don't think they should be imposed without a vote-regardless of authority to do so. Legalities & ethics aren't the same thing.

marilee37 7 months ago

I'm all for it, if they actually do fix the streets in the residential area. I have been trying for years to have them fix the crumbling cement in front of my house, only to be ignored.

coolers53 7 months ago

So Marilee37, lets pretend that they actually fix your cement and I hope they do, and it costs 10k to do that, which means that 15 streets could be repaired and the money is gone for that year, do you see what Im getting at, the streets would never be repaired over the years in all of East Wenatchee so a lot of people are paying this tax for no benefit.

Burr 7 months ago

The citizens of East Wenatchee are getting railroaded down the tax highway.
East Wenatchee is in very good financial position, I don't believe them, don't belive we need this tax. I have talked to city employees and they have told me how strong financially East Wenatchee is. This is B.S.

KellyHart 7 months ago

what part of leave our license tab fees at $35.00 do elected representatives NOT understand?

FootballNut 7 months ago

Thank goodness I still live outside the city limits. We the citizens really only have ourselves to blame though. We (collectively speaking of course) keep electing these people. I don't have a say in East Wenatchee politics, but if they ever come to try and annex my area, I will fight tooth and nail to oppose it. Hopefully all of my neighbors are smart enough to stand with me.

Dave 7 months ago

Has anyone thanked Tim Eyman for this? It was his idea to take away the funding that provided us with the best highway system in the United States. The voters jumped on that bandwagon and here we are today.............

FootballNut 7 months ago

Yes I have. Thanks to Tim Eyman, the atrocious car tab fees we used to have are gone. After you cut bloated city government, then come and ask the citizens.

coolers53 7 months ago

Dave, I think you have the Eyman iniative all wrong, yes it was Eyman that put forth the initiative to repeal the taxs on the huge fees whenever we renewed our tabs etc, on new vehicles they were getting up into the hundreds and hundreds of dollars, I believe it was to repeal these back to 35.00 per year, and hence our elected officials have been trying to raise them ever since. And yes it was these huge fees that were paying for our roads etc. I believe over the years Eyman has put up initiatives several times to keep the tab fees at 35 bucks and we have approved it every time. So if it wasnt for the Eyman initiatives we would be back to paying huge renewal fees on our tabs, I can only emagine what they would be now.

Dave 7 months ago

So you take "those huge fees" away, how do you expect the state to keep up the roadways? Take away your income, how would manage to maintain your home?

FootballNut 7 months ago

Duh! The gas tax. That's what we pay that for. Quit wasting our gas tax on a bloated corrupt ferry system and use it for the roads and bridges it was intended for.

lonedog3 7 months ago

many other states do accomplise maintaing their roads with SET fees on the plates. however since the goverment of western washington insists on moving this money from streets to general funds they have to keep raising fees. How long before east wenatchee moves this tax into the general fund?

coolers53 7 months ago

Just as the State is doing now, eliminate waste, cut back on spending, cut back on government programs that are unneeded, this is what the City should be doing, cut back on waste and unnecessary spending, if this tax fee went to vote it would be defeated probably by a huge margin. This Eyman thing is all old hash and was done years ago, really has nothing to do with East Wenatchee side streets, The city should have asked the voters for approval

rwaller 7 months ago

Bit suspect that this vote would come a week after the election. They are counting on the people in E Wenatchee to forget about this during the 2 yers leading up to the next election.

nopockets 7 months ago

I am not an East Wenatchee resident so I don't have a dog in this fight, but I was at the meeting. There were a few citizens there but during the public hearing not one "public" spoke up! One of the councilman read a letter from his neighbor that was in favor of the tab fee. They also discussed the phone survey that one of the councilman performed where 69% of those surveyed were in also favor of the tab fee. Even former councilman Dennis Hendricks, who has been ranting against this fee every chance he gets was absent! Is this laziness, apathy, or what? Get our of your chairs people and speak up where it counts!