Burgess Proposes Raft of New Options to Replace "Head Tax"

News July 21, 2009 at 11:48 am Erica C. Barnett

As Josh mentioned in Morning Fizz yesterday, city council member Tim Burgess, a supporter of repealing the so-called “head tax” (a $25-per-employee tax, paid by employers, that pays for transportation projects), is proposing a list of potential new taxes that could make up the $4.5 million the tax currently raises.

According to a draft of the proposal obtained by PubliCola this morning, raising several existing fees and taxes and creating a new licensing fee produce more than $19 million to pay for bike and pedestrian improvements. The new fees could include:

• A 50-cent increase in parking meter fees;

• A 25 percent hike in the commercial parking tax;

• A $3 increase in fines on parking tickets; and

• A new $10 tax on car registrations, which on its own could bring in $5 million.

On his blog, Burgess says he supports those taxes, but not the employee hours tax, because his new proposal would have a direct relationship to how much people drive alone:

For example, the cost of parking when paid for by a driver has a direct relationship to the driver’s wallet. Increase the cost of parking and the “purchase” of that service should decline. Increase on-street parking costs (meters and pay stations) to generally equal that of off-street parking and we make even greater progress in encouraging people to consider alternatives.

Ironically, in its current form, the draft includes an exemption that’s almost identical to the exemption in the original “head tax”—the same exemption Burgess and others said was “too complicated” to administer.

I’ve got a call in to Burgess to find out more about why he’s supporting the tax increases.

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dacoach

how about a $.50-$1.00 tax on single serving alcoholic beverages. It’s the scourge of pioneer sq and, like cigarettes, we know price impacts consumption.

are things built to get people blindingly drunk good for anybody?
dacoach

how about a $.50-$1.00 tax on single serving alcoholic beverages. It’s the scourge of pioneer sq and, like cigarettes, we know price impacts consumption.

are things built to get people blindingly drunk good for anybody?
Mikos

This tells me a lot about Burgess. Good stuff.
Danny Noonan

So when the parking meters don’t feel like taking my credit card, now I will have to put only 22 quaters in, instead of 20. No problem.
Danny Noonan

So when the parking meters don’t feel like taking my credit card, now I will have to put only 22 quaters in, instead of 20. No problem.
swatter

Why do Rs always talk about cuts and Ds only talk about more taxes?

Isn’t the balance somewhere in between? I wish we had a political party between these two extremes.
swatter

Why do Rs always talk about cuts and Ds only talk about more taxes?

Isn’t the balance somewhere in between? I wish we had a political party between these two extremes.
http://www.dougsdoodles.com/ DOUG.

Meanwhile you eliminate the incentive for employers to help their workers find alternative ways to work (i.e. expanded bike cages) which in the end screws the commuter. Thanks Tim!
http://www.dougsdoodles.com DOUG.

Meanwhile you eliminate the incentive for employers to help their workers find alternative ways to work (i.e. expanded bike cages) which in the end screws the commuter. Thanks Tim!
Hobgoblin

@5 – No you don’t. The carrots and sticks associated with Transportation Demand Management and Commute Trip Reduction are baked right into the permits issued by Seattle’s DPD for many of downtown’s office buildings. And the current construction cost of $30-50K a parking stall is plenty of incentive for downtown businesses and developers to build a few bike racks.
Hobgoblin

@5 – No you don’t. The carrots and sticks associated with Transportation Demand Management and Commute Trip Reduction are baked right into the permits issued by Seattle’s DPD for many of downtown’s office buildings. And the current construction cost of $30-50K a parking stall is plenty of incentive for downtown businesses and developers to build a few bike racks.
Good Grief

The Head Tax does nothing to incent employers to encourage their workers to find alternate ways to work. If I was an employer I might donate $2.08/month toward a bus pass, but I doubt that would make any employees switch to the bus. Any more than that and an employer is better off financially to just pay the damn tax and move on.

The notion that the tax is intended to change behavior and “green” the city is a warm and fuzzy little fairy tale that the supporters of the tax tell themselves — and try to tell the rest of us — to make everyone feel better about it.
Good Grief

The Head Tax does nothing to incent employers to encourage their workers to find alternate ways to work. If I was an employer I might donate $2.08/month toward a bus pass, but I doubt that would make any employees switch to the bus. Any more than that and an employer is better off financially to just pay the damn tax and move on.

The notion that the tax is intended to change behavior and “green” the city is a warm and fuzzy little fairy tale that the supporters of the tax tell themselves — and try to tell the rest of us — to make everyone feel better about it.
Patrick

Why does it always come down to favors for the bicyclists. Those people who don’t stop for red lights, stop signs or crosswalks, force pedestrians from sidewalks and generally ignore traffic rules. If you want to raise some money how about writing some of these bumbs a few tickets.
Patrick

Why does it always come down to favors for the bicyclists. Those people who don’t stop for red lights, stop signs or crosswalks, force pedestrians from sidewalks and generally ignore traffic rules. If you want to raise some money how about writing some of these bums a few tickets.
Patrick

Why does it always come down to favors for the bicyclists. Those people who don’t stop for red lights, stop signs or crosswalks, force pedestrians from sidewalks and generally ignore traffic rules. If you want to raise some money how about writing some of these bumbs a few tickets.
Patrick

Why does it always come down to favors for the bicyclists. Those people who don’t stop for red lights, stop signs or crosswalks, force pedestrians from sidewalks and generally ignore traffic rules. If you want to raise some money how about writing some of these bums a few tickets.
http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

Not convinced that taxation ought to be all about what is being “incentivized” and what is being “discouraged.” $25/employee/year isn’t nearly enough to have any kind of incentive impact on anything whatsoever, other than incentivizing BS from business-friendly politicians. But it raises money. And that’s really the main point of tax policy. Revenue. Dressing up the head tax in eco-incentives was the silliest thing that was done on this issue, at least until the silliness around repealing it.
http://twitter.com/fattailed Fat-tailed

Not convinced that taxation ought to be all about what is being “incentivized” and what is being “discouraged.” $25/employee/year isn’t nearly enough to have any kind of incentive impact on anything whatsoever, other than incentivizing BS from business-friendly politicians. But it raises money. And that’s really the main point of tax policy. Revenue. Dressing up the head tax in eco-incentives was the silliest thing that was done on this issue, at least until the silliness around repealing it.
Trevor

@8&9: Or just write tickets for all the drivers who talk on the cell phones without headsets? Thousands of people die each year because of that. But the national DOT suppressed a report about it, and while WA state has a law on the books, most drivers are incredible scofflaws. Enforcing that law would save a lot more lives and provide a lot more revenue than worrying about whether a bicyclist came to a complete stop at a stop sign.
Trevor

@8&9: Or just write tickets for all the drivers who talk on the cell phones without headsets? Thousands of people die each year because of that. But the national DOT suppressed a report about it, and while WA state has a law on the books, most drivers are incredible scofflaws. Enforcing that law would save a lot more lives and provide a lot more revenue than worrying about whether a bicyclist came to a complete stop at a stop sign.
http://www.dougsdoodles.com/ DOUG.

@6&7: I had an employer that expanded a bike cage from 12 spaces to 36, giving them leverage to argue that 24 extra employees were exempt from the “head tax”. I can’t say definitively that this is why they went to the expense to expand the cage, but it sure didn’t hurt.
http://www.dougsdoodles.com DOUG.

@6&7: I had an employer that expanded a bike cage from 12 spaces to 36, giving them leverage to argue that 24 extra employees were exempt from the “head tax”. I can’t say definitively that this is why they went to the expense to expand the cage, but it sure didn’t hurt.
Mikos

This tells me a lot about Burgess. Good stuff.

Viva La Cola!

Burgess Proposes Raft of New Options to Replace "Head Tax"

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