SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Heads up for some of you in Snohomish County: your annual tab fees could be going up.
Snohomish County Public Works Director Kelly Snyder said in order to address a $30 million budget gap, they are asking the council to approve a $20 tab fee.
For those of you who live in the incorporated cities like Edmonds, Lynnwood, Everett, and others, your money is safe from new fees.
That’s because for those incorporated areas, taxes and fees are already being collected. They already have TBDs in place and are already collecting the related revenue from residents. The state Department of Licensing has a list online with more information on which jurisdictions have TBDs funded by vehicle license fees and their effective date. Additionally, the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington maintains a list of jurisdictions that have formed TBDs, how they’re funded (vehicle fee or sales tax), and when they were formed.
County Councilman Jared Mead tells us the deficit needs to be addressed properly.
“We have a 30 million deficit in our roads fund, that is gigantic, that’s an annual thing,” said Councilman Mead.
To fix that, Snohomish County Public Works is cutting operating costs as much as it can.
“We’ve really run out of things to reduce our expenditure and keep safe roads in our community,” said Director Snyder.
Now, she says they are considering a new $20 fee on new or renewed car tabs in unincorporated Snohomish County as part of the proposed Transportation Benefit District.
“It raises $6 million a year, that’s about half a million per month, and that will help backfill the operation and maintenance,” added Snyder.
That isn’t set in stone yet; councilmembers delayed the vote to consider other options.
“Without aggressively looking at our systems and structure and what led us to this deficit, then we are risking being back in this position,” Mead said.
Snyder says without this funding, their 1,600 miles of roads and 210 bridges could be in trouble.
“They want to know if the stop sign that fell will be put back up, they want to get to work, we want to get out and plow, or make sure they won’t drive into an area that’s flooded, all that needs money,” said Director Snyder.
The discussion on the tab fee is expected to happen sometime in August.
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