Seattle Mayor Murray’s and King
County Executive Constantine’s proposal in the May 13th Seattle
Times that “cities and employers outside Seattle pay the full operating cost of
whatever bus service they want to buy” ignores the fact the 0.9 percent sales
tax those living outside Seattle already pay far exceeds their “fair share” of
the Metro costs. (The fact both
are members of a Sound Transit board that’s spending hundreds of millions each
year on East Link light rail that will gridlock I-90 and on Central Link
extensions to Lynnwood and Federal Way whose operating costs deficits will
dwarf the $75 million Metro shortfall raises questions about their financial
acumen when it comes to transportation issues.)
The whole idea of a using a “tax on
sales” to fund public transportation is questionable. The vast majority of those using public transit are
commuting to “work” not to “buy” things.
(Very few people who buy things at Bell Square rode there on buses).
Since “workers” are the ones who benefit, it seems only fair to require they
and/or their employer pay with some sort of “payroll tax”.
Rather than ask cities around Seattle to pay more for their Metro bus
service and Seattleites to pay more in sales tax and car tab fees (also of
“questionable fairness”) Murray and Constantine should require employers and
those who work in Seattle to pay a “payroll tax” to fund the current shortfall. The fact they recently managed to force
employers to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour suggests they could easily impose
the payroll tax needed for Metro 
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