Both Clallam and Jefferson county auditors say the cost of car tabs won’t be rising anytime soon despite Thursday’s state Supreme Court decision.
The split court ruled that the transit portion of the car-tab tax wasn’t specifically repealed by the Legislature in March 2000.
“Nobody knows what is going to happen,” said Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown.
“Until something final comes from the Department of Licensing, we are waiting,”.
Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge said the Jefferson deputy prosecutor’s advice is simply to “sit tight” until the issue can be resolved by the Legislature or Department of Licensing.
In November 1999, voters approved Initiative 695, which replaced the 2.2 percent motor-vehicle excise tax with a flat $30 fee.
When the state Supreme Court ruled I-695 unconstitutional in March 2000, the Legislature quickly replaced the hated tax with a flat $30 fee anyway.
However, the state Supreme Court, in a majority opinion written by Justice Susan Owens of Forks, ruled that the Legislature’s action didn’t explicitly repeal the law dedicating part of the tax to fund local transit agencies, including Clallam Transit System and Jefferson Transit.
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