TACOMA NARROWS EARMARK EYED

United Infrastructure Washington (UIW) insisted in early 1999 that the legislature appropriate the state's $50 million share of the $350-million Tacoma Narrows Bridge project as part of UIW's development agreement with the Department of Transportation. In the wake of voters' approval of Initiative 695 in November 1999, however, the earmark has introduced a new element of risk. The absence of any income tax in Washington drives state excise taxes to levels that are among the highest in the nation. The voters' response, Initiative 695, cuts the state's vehicle excise tax to a flat $30 fee and requires voter approval of all new state or local fees or taxes. The initiative's immediate effect is to eliminate the funding source for $2 billion in transportation bonds approved by voters in November 1998. That was the same election in which 53% of affected voters in the State Route 16 (SR16) corridor agreed to a $3 roundtrip toll rate to finance a twinning of the Narrows Bridge. Almost all high-occupancy vehicle lane work in the SR16 corridor is tied to the 1998 bonds. The state legislature will attempt to patch together a temporary solution, while the courts mull constitutional challenges to the initiative.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/19598638
• Corporate Authors:

  Public Works Financing

  147 Elmer Street
  Westfield, NJ  United States  07090-2433
• Publication Date: 1999-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 5-6
• Serial:
  • Public Works Financing
  • Volume: 134
  • Publisher: Public Works Financing
  • ISSN: 1068-0748

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bonds; Financing; Government funding; High occupancy vehicle lanes; Highway corridors; Legislation; Public opinion; State highways; Taxation; Taxes; Toll bridges; Tolls
• Identifier Terms: Tacoma Narrows Bridge
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Law; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00781685
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 13 2000 12:00AM