City of Seattle oversight leads to tens of thousands getting $10 checks

It doesn’t happen very often: the city government gives you money. But a curious turn of events unfolded in Seattle, leading to 44,000 car owners and businesses getting unexpected $10 checks. This peculiar refund was the result of a bureaucratic oversight: The city had increased a vehicle tab fee without providing adequate public notice.

The story begins with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), which oversees a hefty operating fund exceeding $300 million earmarked for the city’s transportation services and infrastructure maintenance. Julie Johnson, the city’s Office of City Finance chief of staff, told The Seattle Times that the refunds would be drawn from this fund. Despite the significant payout totaling $490,510, SDOT said there would not be an impact on department programs.

The plot thickens with a flashback to November 2022, when the City Council voted to raise the Seattle Transportation Benefit District vehicle license fee from $40 to $50. This increase was projected to generate an additional $4 million annually, with the first $1.5 million allocated for safety enhancements on the Northeast 45th Street bridge over Interstate 5. These improvements were just one component of a grander scheme to earthquake-proof the bridge, supported mainly by the $930 million Levy to Move Seattle, which voters passed in 2015.

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The transportation benefit district itself was established in 2010 to fund city transportation projects. Initially, the vehicle license fee was a modest $20 per year. However, in November 2014, Seattleites voted to hike the fee to $60 and slightly increase the sales tax, thereby boosting King County Metro services and raising over $45 million annually.

Fast forward to the end of 2020, when the voter-approved fee expired, and the City Council, doubling as the benefit district’s administrators, implemented a $40 fee. Then, in a twist of fate, on November 29, 2022, the council decided to up the fee to $50, aiming to start collections by July 2023.

Fee increase notice came too late, leading to $10 checks

But fate had other plans. The city clerk posted the fee increase notice in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce on Oct. 18, 2023, and the state Department of Licensing was set to begin collecting the new fee on Dec. 1.

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But state law mandates a 90-day gap between announcing an increase and its implementation. This legal requirement meant the new fee couldn’t be lawfully collected until Jan. 18, 2024. By then, it was too late; the increased fee notices had already been processed.

In the aftermath, nearly 50,000 vehicles renewed their tabs during the period from Dec. 1, 2023, to Jan. 18, 2024, and were thus eligible for the refund. This incident serves as a small chapter in the larger narrative of Seattle’s automotive landscape, which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, includes approximately 460,000 vehicles.

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X here and email him here.