DORI MONSON

Dori: Don’t complain about ‘sticker shock’ from Sound Transit’s $6 billion ripoff

Mar 23, 2017, 10:02 AM | Updated: Mar 24, 2017, 9:07 am

car tab, car-tab fee, car tax, lawsuit against Sound Transit, I-976...

Washington lawmakers had a chance to avoid the I-976 iceberg months ago. (File, MyNorthwest)

(File, MyNorthwest)

We’re starting to get an idea now of how truly massive the Sound Transit ripoff is to you and me. If they charged us motor vehicle taxes on what our cars are actually worth, instead of the inflated price we’re all paying, it would cost them $6 billion.

Related: Buyer’s remorse: Fee increase on car tabs is ‘our fault’

In other words, Sound Transit acknowledges that they are illegally overtaxing us by $6 billion. This is a staggering admission on their part.

Now, they don’t say it’s illegal, but clearly they are supposed to be taxing us on how much our cars are worth.

King 5 talked with State Rep. Judy Clibborn, who makes it clear that ripping off the taxpayers is worth it if they can get more money out of that ripoff.

So it’s your fault. You voted for it.

And that soundbite is so revealing  — you can even hear a laugh in her voice. Politicians on an unelected board of Sound Transit are now laughing about how they scammed the citizens out of $6 billion. That laugh in her voice should send chills down your spine because it shows how the politicians who are involved see nothing as being more sacred than getting money.

Meanwhile, we’ve got a lot of families that aren’t laughing. Of course, Sound Transit is saying: maybe we’ll give rebates to the poor. But what about the middle class? The ones also working paycheck-to-paycheck. What about the ones trying to figure out how to help their kid pay for college?

There are also the families driving cars that are a little older and need more repairs but don’t know how they will pay for that bill; families getting their property taxes and wondering if they can stay in their home; retired people discovering their property tax bill is more than their mortgage when they first bought the house.

I’m not trying to be melodramatic, but that’s the situation we’re in. And we have a politician laughing about a $6 billion fraud.

King 5 also talked with State Senator Dino Rossi, who said, yes, this is the norm for Sound Transit.

“Sound Transit’s never fulfilled a promise they’ve made so far so why should they start now,” Rossi said.

The sticker shock myth

And so the big storyline since everyone started getting their car tabs is “sticker shock.” And I do fault my brothers and sisters in the media who did not alert their listeners, readers and viewers the way we did on my show.

I’m begging you: You’ve got to start paying attention when we blow the whistle on this before the elections. I’m sick and tired of hearing about the sticker shock. I’m sick and tired of hearing about all the people who said they knew it would be a tax hike but had no idea it would be this much. You’ve got to start paying attention, because we’ve been spotlighting this – in the case of Sound Transit – for 22 years.  This vote in particular, we talked about it ad-nauseam.

Now everyone’s complaining when it’s too late.

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Dori: Don’t complain about ‘sticker shock’ from Sound Transit’s $6 billion ripoff