Court Dismisses 2nd Challenge to Monorail Tax, Upholds Public Approval of Funding for Green Line

A second Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by longtime Monorail opponents trying again to stop the Monorail Green Line. Superior Court Judge William Downing ruled that there was no merit to the claims challenging the Seattle Monorail Project’s legal authority to levy the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) authorized by the public in November 2002. A handful of Seattle residents, led by longtime Monorail opponent Henry Aronson, filed the lawsuit last fall just before the failed attempt to recall the Monorail during the November election. In dismissing the plaintiffs’ case, Judge Downing cited the fact that both the Legislature and the public authorized the tax. “In voting for Citizen Petition No. 1, Seattle Voters, in accordance with the above state laws, determined the size and selection of the SMP Board and approved a 1.4% MVET.” The Court found that “the challenged taxation was specifically and directly approved by the citizenry who would be paying for it.” The Court reiterated that the Department of Licensing (DOL) was appropriately collecting the MVET based on a depreciation schedule that was established by the Legislature, and that voters were not expecting “a curbside appraisal of each individual Ford or Ferrari with its added dings and dents, woofers and tweeters.” “The voters approved a tax to be calculated according to an objective methodology required by law in effect at the time of their vote,” Judge Downing wrote. “Democratic values compel this conclusion.” The Court also denied the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction to keep the state Department of Licensing from turning over MVET collections to SMP. Several months ago, Judge Nicole MacInnes dismissed another challenge to the Monorail’s taxing authority, also finding there was no merit to the claims. Many of the issues in this case duplicated that decision.