Harger: WA’s expired car tab crackdown is bigger, and harsher, than you’ve been told

You know how we’ve been told for years that the transportation system is broke? The legislature found some money. Yours.

This started as a story about car tab fines going up a little. Then I read the actual bill. Then I read what’s already on the books. And I realized: the hammer is bigger than I thought.

Senate Bill 6176 has bipartisan sponsors: Senator Curtis King, R-Yakima, and Senator Marko Liias, D-Edmonds. The top dogs on the Senate Transportation Committee. They’re not messing around.

An estimated 600,000 Washington drivers have expired tabs right now. That’s a lot of people hoping nobody notices. It’s costing the state somewhere between $25 million and $100 million a year. The Department of Licensing (DOL) said it doesn’t track these people. Doesn’t ask why. Doesn’t hunt them down.

This bill says: that’s over. But here’s what caught me off guard.

Some of the gnarliest parts? Already law

Did you know your car can already be impounded if it’s parked on a public street with tabs expired more than 45 days? That’s current law. Your car, towed at 3 a.m., while you sleep. Legal right now.

Did you know registering your car in another state to dodge Washington fees is already a gross misdemeanor? Up to a year in jail. Mandatory fines a judge cannot reduce. First offense: at least $1,529 plus back taxes. Second offense: $5,529. That Montana LLC you set up after seeing the ad on Facebook? The one that made you feel like a genius at the barbecue? Already illegal.

So what’s new in SB 6176? They’re expanding the battlefield.

Private parking garages could become enforcement zones. Your office lot. The garage near Sea-Tac. The parking lot where you park for Seahawks games. If the property owner posts a sign, you can get ticketed while you’re in a meeting, on vacation in Hawaii, or watching JSN. Come back from two weeks in Maui with a tan and a $248 surprise on your windshield.

The bill also creates tiered fines for parked vehicles. $145 if you’re expired two months or less. $248 if longer. Processed like parking tickets.

This is the state saying: we’re not waiting for you to get pulled over anymore. We’re coming to find you. Think less Mayberry, more Liam Neeson.

Some context. Washington voters have approved $30 car tabs three times. 1999. 2002. 2019. Three times, they said enough. Three times, the courts said, “That’s adorable.” For many people, not renewing tabs isn’t about being a scofflaw. It’s the only protest they think they have left.

And the state’s response? Not to lower fees. Not to acknowledge 27 years of frustration. Just to tighten the vice until you have no choice.

Supporters say the rest of us are subsidizing the people who don’t pay. That’s fair. Opponents say the state ignores voters and now wants to criminalize the backlash. That’s fair too.

Half of you are nodding along right now. The other half are Googling real estate listings in Coeur d’Alene. For what it’s worth, Idaho has nice lakes.

After 27 years of voters saying one thing and Olympia saying another, the state stopped asking. They brought a tow truck.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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