A preliminary injunction against Sound Transit was denied today at the Pierce County Superior Court. The injunction is tied to a second class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of taxpayers by attorney Joel Ard. Both Sound Transit’s attorneys Desmond Brown and Paul Lawrence were present defending Sound Transit, and Dionne Padilla-Huddleston represented the state.

The preliminary injunction “challenges the collection of a tax that is based on a valuation table that is no longer valid in law.” In light of learning that Sound Transit is collecting the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) car tab tax based on a 1999 depreciation schedule when the law they wrote mandates the use of a 1996 schedule, the plaintiffs argue that this error impacts the Sound Move car tab tax as well. The only valuation Sound Transit can use, according to the injunction, is the depreciation schedule in current law, which is the 2006 depreciation schedule.

This is the first court hearing related to this case since the public (and the state Supreme Court) learned last month that Sound Transit has not been complying with a tax authorizing law they themselves wrote in 2015. Neither Sound Transit nor the Attorney General's office discussed this error in court today, even though it is the elephant in the room.

Asked about the outcome of the hearing today, Ard said, “The state has fully committed to issuing refunds to everyone if we win either lawsuit, so Judge Nevin said there was no need to issue any order right now because at the end of the lawsuit, if we win, everyone in the taxing district is getting a refund.”

The second lawsuit, a companion to the first, goes after the agency’s collection of the Sound Move car tab tax of 0.3%, passed in 1996. The plaintiffs allege Sound Transit has been overvaluing vehicles and overcharging taxpayers, contrary to the state constitution, for years – long before the Sound Transit 3 car tab tax hike passed in 2016.

The first lawsuit, which is before the state Supreme Court awaiting a decision, alleges that the 2015 law that authorized Sound Transit to collect the higher ST3 car tab tax was drafted in violation of Article 2 Section 37 of the state Constitution.

The denial of the preliminary injunction does not affect either lawsuit – it just means the plaintiffs won’t get an order today.

Below are links to the hearing, and to relevant briefs:

• Recorded hearing on TVW: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?clientID=9375922947&eventID=2019101061
   
• AG’s brief opposing injunction: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/library/docLib/State-ST.pdf
   
• Ard’s response to AG: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/library/docLib/Reply-to-State-ST.pdf
   
• Sound Transit’s brief opposing injunction: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/library/docLib/CPSRTA-ST.pdf
   
• Ard’s response to Sound Transit: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/library/docLib/Reply-to-CPSRTA.pdf