Seattle – For the first time citizens can see how much they currently pay in transportation-related taxes and how much more they will pay if a new transportation plan is passed by voters this fall.  The information is included in the new Washington Policy Center (WPC) study released today, Your Transportation Tax Burden.

This is the second in a series of publications on Sound Transit Phase 2 and its companion measure the Regional Transportation Investment District (ST2/RTID) package, which will likely appear on the 2007 ballot.

WPC’s Center for Transportation Policy’s analysis includes a brief overview of the RTID/ST2 package and goes on to compare its potential tax burden to what families currently pay in transportation taxes.  

“By creating a Regional Household Transportation Tax Index, voters now have the economic context to fully understand how proposed tax increases for transportation projects stack up with how much a family currently pays,” says Michael Ennis, Director of the WPC’s Center for Transportation Policy and author of the Policy Brief.

The report makes the following key findings:

• Every year Puget Sound residents pay an average of $1,303 per household in transportation related taxes.
• Public officials are asking voters to approve a multi-billion dollar roads and transit package that would increase the current transportation tax burden by as much as 24% per family. 
• The added tax burden from the combined Sound Transit and Regional Transportation Investment District (ST2/RTID) package would be $286 per year for families.
• If the ST2/RTID measure is approved, car tabs will climb an average of $68 per vehicle and the average family will pay about $137 more a year for registering a vehicle.

The full report can be found here.

The WPC’s Regional Household Transportation Tax Index can be found here.

The first Policy Note, The Cost of Sound Transit, can be found here.