The Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously voted to place an advisory measure on the November ballot that will ask voters how they would prefer to fund a transportation plan designed to relieve traffic congestion and increase safety through an as-yet unspecified mix of road and transit projects in King County.

The advisory question, sponsored by Council Chair Larry Phillips and Councilmember Julia Patterson, would follow an earlier question on the ballot that asks voters whether a locally-funded plan of transportation investments should be developed and placed on the ballot in 2005.

“The first advisory question gives voters a chance to say whether we should develop a locally-funded plan for improvements,” said Council Chair Larry Phillips. “The question then becomes: how do we want to pay for it? Knowing this will help us put together a successful package, so we don’t spin our wheels on a package that lacks voter support.”

Voters would be able to select one possible revenue source from a list of five. The measure will read in part:

“This advisory measure asks which tax source the voters in King County would prefer be used to support a transportation plan designed to relieve traffic congestion and increase safety through a mix of road and transit projects in King County. This plan would require voter approval at a future date. Which one of the following tax sources would you prefer be included in a plan to locally fund road and transit projects in King County?

• a general sales tax
• an excise tax on the value of motor vehicles
• a flat tax on motor vehicles
• an increase in the local gas tax
• a tax on total annual vehicle miles traveled”

“The Legislature in 2002 gave us several options for funding local congestion relief projects, among them an increase in the sales tax. But during the course of our struggle to develop a funding package for RTID, we heard some polling data that indicated people preferred user fees, such as a gasoline tax or other fee on motor vehicles,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, a member of the Regional Transportation Investment District (RTID) Executive Board and a co-sponsor of the second advisory question. “This advisory measure will educate elected officials as we work to develop a transportation improvement plan for King County."