Washington Limits on Motor Vehicle License Fees and Taxes Initiative (2018)

Washington Limits on Motor Vehicle License Fees and Taxes
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Taxes
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Washington measuresWashington Initiative 940Washington Initiative 1631Washington Initiative 1634Washington Initiative 1639Washington Advisory Vote 19Submit

The Washington Limits on Motor Vehicle License Fees and Taxes Initiative (#1585, 1591, 1610, 1618, 1626, 1630) was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 6, 2018.

This measure was designed to prevent vehicle license fees from exceeding $30 for any vehicle weighing 10,000 pounds or less unless approved by voters. It would have also required the value of vehicles for the purposes of calculating vehicle taxes to be determined by the Kelley Blue Book. Finally, the measure would prohibit the collection of any vehicle taxes established to repay bond issues after the bonds are repaid.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot titles for the different versions of the initiative are below:

Initiative 1585 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1585 concerns motor vehicle taxes and fees. This measure would limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30 except for voter-approved charges; repeal or remove authority to approve certain vehicle taxes and fees; and base vehicle taxes on Kelley Blue Book value. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Initiative 1591 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1591 concerns motor vehicle taxes and fees. This measure would limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30 except for voter-approved charges; repeal or remove authority to approve certain vehicle taxes and fees; and base vehicle taxes on Kelley Blue Book value. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Initiative 1610 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1610 concerns motor vehicle taxes and fees. This measure would limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30, with exceptions; repeal certain vehicle tax and fee laws; amend a proposed tax credit program affecting Sound Transit; and change other vehicle tax laws. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Initiative 1618 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1618 concerns motor vehicle taxes and fees This measure would limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30, with exceptions; repeal or change certain vehicle tax and fee laws; amend a proposed tax-credit program; and base taxes on Kelley Blue Book value. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Initiative 1626 ballot title
Initiative Measure No. 1626 concerns motor vehicle taxes and fees. This measure would repeal or remove authority to impose certain vehicle taxes and fees, including charges funding mass-transit or regional transportation; change vehicle-valuation laws; and limit annual motor-vehicle-license fees to $30, with exceptions. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Ballot summary

The ballot summaries for the different versions of the initiative are below:

Initiative 1585 ballot summary

This measure would limit annual license fees to $30 for motor vehicles weighing under 10,000 pounds, except for voluntary fees and voter-approved charges; remove authority to approve certain taxes and charges, including any additional vehicle sales tax or surcharge funding regional transportation districts; calculate vehicle taxes based on vehicle values in the Kelley Blue Book; and require regional transit authorities to cease collecting taxes pledged to secure bonds and to retire bonds early where allowed.

Initiative 1591 ballot summary

This measure would limit annual license fees to $30 for motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, except voluntary fees and voter-approved charges; remove authority to approve certain taxes and charges, including additional vehicle excise taxes or surcharges funding regional transportation districts; calculate vehicle taxes based on vehicle values in the Kelley Blue Book; and require regional transit authorities to cease collecting vehicle taxes pledged to secure bonds and to retire bonds early where allowed.

Initiative 1610 ballot summary

This measure would limit annual license fees to $30 for motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, except voluntary fees and voter-approved charges; remove authority to approve certain taxes and charges, including additional vehicle excise taxes or surcharges funding regional transportation districts; calculate vehicle taxes based on trade-in values in the Kelley Blue Book; and change the calculation of a motor vehicle excise tax credit in a proposed market value adjustment program affecting Sound Transit.

Initiative 1618 ballot summary

This measure would limit annual license fees to $30 for motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, except voluntary fees and voter-approved charges; calculate vehicle taxes using Kelley Blue Book values; remove authority for certain vehicle taxes and charges, including those funding regional transportation districts; require regional transit authorities to cease collecting vehicle taxes pledged to secure bonds and retire bonds early where allowed; and amend a proposed vehicle excise tax credit affecting Sound Transit.

Initiative 1626 ballot summary

This measure would limit annual license fees to $30 for motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, except voluntary fees, electric-vehicle fees, and voter-approved charges; repeal or remove authority to impose certain taxes and charges, including additional vehicle excise taxes or surcharges funding regional transportation districts; calculate vehicle taxes based on Kelley Blue Book values; require regional transit authorities to retire bonds early where allowed; and repeal taxes pledged to bonds once they are retired.

Full text

• The full text of Initiative 1585 is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1591 is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1606 (withdrawn) is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1610 is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1618 is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1626 is available here.
• The full text of Initiative 1630 is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify a directly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the People in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for direct initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the general election at which their proposal would be presented to voters. Signatures must be submitted at least four months prior to the general election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the People certified for the 2018 ballot:

• Signatures: 259,622 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 6, 2018.

The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified for the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.

Details about this initiative

• Tim Eyman submitted version 1585 on January 8, 2018, version 1591 on January 17, 2018, and version 1606 on February 12, 2018.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for version 1585 on January 16, 2018, and version 1591 on January 24, 2018.
• Eyman filed version 1610 on Februaty 13, 2018, and withdrew version 1606 on February 15, 2018.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for version 1610 on February 23, 2018.
• Eyman filed version 1618 on February 26, 2018, and a ballot title and summary were issued for it on March 6, 2018.
• Eyman filed versions 1626 and 1630 on March 5 and March 6, 2018, respectively.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for version 1626 on March 13, 2018.
• Eyman withdrew version 1630 on March 16, 2018.
• Proponents of the initiative did not submit signatures to the secretary of state's office by the July 6, 2018, deadline and the measure was not put on the ballot.

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• State legislatures measures on the ballot
• 2018 petition deadlines

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Initiative 1585
• Initiative 1591
• Initiative 1606 (withdrawn)
• Initiative 1610
• Initiative 1618
• Initiative 1626
• Initiative 1630