Put a fork in it

Seattle Weekly columnist Knute Berger says Put a Fork in It. The monorail is done. Or it should be.

Big transportation projects like the monorail usually start out well, and then devils emerge from the details. The system as planned now is less good than the one drawn on the slate of our imaginations; as it progresses, it will become more problematic and more expensive. Despite good-faith efforts to reduce expenses and stay within budget, costs will balloon farther down the track. The monorail isn’t going to get prettier or less expensive with age.

That being the case, it’s time to cut our losses. Let’s prove that the monorail is really better than Sound Transit and stop it while we still can.

Indeed.

Meanwhile, today's P-I reports (as I did a week and a half ago) that the Monorail Car Tax is optional again

State officials have temporarily stopped requiring drivers to list their primary residence when they renew their annual car licenses, a move that could again lead to evasion of the Seattle monorail tax.

This should be a devastating blow to the Moronorail's finances, as it no longer has an enforceable revenue collection mechanism for at least 5 months. Nevertheless, the Monomaniacs are in denial:

[Monorail finance director Jonathan] Buchter said he doesn't think the change "will have any impact (on monorail finances), because I assume people are going to follow the rule" and list their primary residence.

Even if people try to evade the tax in the meantime, "in the worst-case scenario, it means I wait five months to collect the tax" because even would-be tax evaders will have to list their primary residence and pay it again in November.

Assume away, Monoman. But the quote implies that anybody who re-registers their car between now and November will have to confirm their primary residence in November and if applicalbe, pay this year's Monorail Car Tax at that time. That is simply not true. If you re-register your car outside of Seattle between now and November and avoid paying the Monorail tax, you will not have to do anything in November. Your current registration and tax will be valid for an entire year. (I phoned the DOL spokesman who's quoted in the P-I article and asked him myself).

If any Monomaniac tells you otherwise (like the Board member I spoke with last week), he is either ignorant or dishonest or both.

Either way, it's time to put a fork in the Moronorail.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at May 28, 2004 11:24 AM