Senators Rossi and O’Ban have provided an entertaining metaphor (March 24 “Monster-Size Vehicle Tabs”) to describe the history of the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) and its recent invocation by the passage of Sound Transit 3 without any reference to the problems ST3 is intended to address.

The economy of our Puget Sound region is thriving and commuter traffic is growing. ST3 passed in November with 54 percent of voters approval. This massive package is intended to extend light rail to the East Side, improve heavy rail between Tacoma and Seattle, establish new Bus Rapid Transit along the 405 corridor, and add capacity to existing Park-and-Ride facilities. The point of this enormous project is to provide the commuters with alternatives to using a single occupant vehicle for their daily travel to work.

Sound Transit’s description of the initiative clearly noted dependence on MVET, property taxes, and sales taxes which are regressive instruments that fail to consider one’s relative ability to pay them. If the good Senators prefer a more equitable system I suggest they propose implementing a state-wide income tax.

The challenges faced by our region over the next fifty years are too complex to continue depending on regressive forms of taxation. I will support the Republicans in Olympia if they proposed a state-wide income tax to replace the current, painfully unfair system.

Ira Worden, Kirkland