Okay, I didn’t want to make this a R vs. D issue, even though I was raised as a Republican. My own political positions have changed drastically over the last 20-odd years and I’ve become much more liberal in many ways, but I think of myself as more Libertarian than Democrat, and I still dislike enough of the Democrat platform that I usually end up voting Republican for state races when there isn’t a Libertarian option. I’ve sometimes voted for a Democrat over a Republican when I think the Dem in that particular race is a better candidate.
That said, this “fee” thing actually started in 1999. A fellow named Tim Eyman (a Republican) got tired of having to pay hundreds of dollars in annual licensing fees on his SUVs and fancy cars. He started an Initiative to change vehicle licensing fees to a flat $30 per vehicle/year. He succeeded in getting it onto the ballot, and voters approved it. It was later declared unconstitutional, but the legislature magnanimously decided to implement the $30 license tabs anyway. The “unconstitutional” part of the initiative was probably that part that also required voter approval of all tax increases.
The problems with the $30 license fee later became apparent. It used to be that the annual license fee was based on the age and value of the vehicle. So sure, a new, expensive vehicle cost a lot to license. But the fee went down every year. Lower-income people with old, cheap cars paid proportionally lower licensing fees. I think the last car I owned prior to this cost me something like $16/year, and that was it. The licensing fee itself was the entire cost of renewing my tags. Under the new law, you paid $30 regardless of the age and value of the car. Still, not too bad.
The other problem, though, was bigger. License fees were what funded a crapload of transportation-related things in Washington, including public transportation/mass transit. My local multi-county region had, in 1991, implemented a public bus system that was completely free to ride, and it was very successful. When this bill passed, the state gutted their funding and the system was forced to implement a fare structure to keep operating.
And so, over the years, the state has continued to find creative new ways to find revenue to pay for everything, and instead of taxes they keep coming up with new “fees”. Car license tabs still cost a flat $30/year … but now there’s a processing fee and a few other fees added on. The result is that, even if my car is 20 years old and worth maybe $400, annual licensing fees are going to run me nearly $200, the same that the next guy pays for his 2-year-old Escalade. They’ve also changed how licensing fees are paid when a used car changes hands. It used to be that, if you bought a used car from another person, or if they gifted it to you, you would keep the existing plates/tabs and simply renew them when they came due. Oh no, not now. Now when you acquire a used car, they issue brand new plates and you pay the annual licensing fee right now. Even if the previous owner renewed the tabs last month.
Oh, and let’s not forget that you now have to pay to replace the physical license plates every seven years. The excuse for this is that the plates have a reflective coating that wears out after seven years, and they need to have a functioning coating so that law enforcement can read the plates at night. Or at least that’s how they explained it to my retired dad, who informed them that he was in the Washington State Patrol for 36 years and never had any trouble at all reading license plates at night before the introduction of the reflective coating. It’s just another money grab.
