You remember the classic vampire movies. The hero repeatedly tries to take down the blood-sucking monster, but it refuses to die. It continues its devastation until, finally, the hero manages to drive a stake through its heart.

For many residents of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, this fiction is a little too close to their nightmare of opening frighteningly high car tab bills – not ones based on the Kelley Blue Book actual value of a vehicle, but on Sound Transit’s hyper-inflated value.

The assault on taxpayers’ wallets by Sound Transit and ST3 – the light-rail extension referendum passed in November – in the form of triple taxes (property, sales and car tabs) just won’t end. Fortunately, we have two lines of defense ready.

For many years, when calculating tabs, the state valued every car at prices no citizen could actually hope to get for their vehicle. Taxpayers rightly resented a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) formula based on the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) that no car buyer ever pays.

Citizens thought they had vanquished this tax-sucking MVET formula by initiative in 1999 when they limited the MVET to $30, but the beast would not die. The courts invalidated the initiative.

Taxpayers rose up again with a 2002 initiative, again enacting $30 car tabs and again repealing the unfair MVET schedule. The courts upheld the second initiative and taxpayers rejoiced.

However, as with all great horror flicks, the villain was not done yet. The old MVET schedule lived on through old bonds and in 2015, Sound Transit authored legislation that cunningly resurrected the repealed MVET formula.

They slipped the schedule into legislation without a direct reference to the (repealed) law and without spelling out the law in its entirety. Both of these drafting irregularities violate Article 2, Sec. 37 of the Washington State Constitution, which states that an act cannot “be revised or amended by mere reference to its title but the act shall be set forth at length.”

Most lawmakers did not realize the legislation intended to resurrect the repealed MVET formula. Without the detailed information required by the constitution, how could they?

These constitutional requirements are critically important. Without them, lawmakers and the governor can easily be confused, and even misled, as to the legal effect of a proposed law.

In short, Sound Transit did not follow the rules when resurrecting this tax. We believe the constitutional case against ST3 is strong and we have asked state Attorney General Bob Ferguson to weigh in. If he will not address the issue, we have requested that he retain outside counsel to do it.

We have been asked if bringing this issue up could cause problems for Sound Transit and the unfair MVET schedule. This is the wrong question. It is like asking if sunlight is harmful to Dracula. We are not here to protect Sound Transit; we are here to protect taxpayers. It is our job to fix unfair laws, not save government from its own misleading and unconstitutional actions.

If we are correct about the unconstitutionality of this 2015 law that authorized ST3 funding, and we think we are, it could have legal consequences for Sound Transit, including necessitating reform of some loans or bond contracts. But they can be fixed. Sound Transit expects $54 billion in taxpayer funds from its new property and sales taxes, as well as from car tabs.

In case the resurrected MVET formula somehow survives being bathed in sunlight, we are sharpening another stake to kill the MVET beast.

Sen. Dino Rossi, R-Sammamish, represents the 45th Legislation District. Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-University Place, represents the 28th Legislative District.

We have sponsored legislation to repeal the MVET formula and replace it with one based on the Kelley Blue Book vehicle-valuation method, or National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) method, whichever is lower. This bill would return the Sound Transit MVET valuation to a car’s true, depreciated value.

If Sound Transit needs the Legislature to help fix its problem with bond-holders, we will keep an open mind and consider all recommendations. However, rest assured that if and when Sound Transit seeks our help, a fix will not include an MVET formula that allows the regional transit authority to suck the hard-earned income of taxpayers by overcharging for car tabs.

Let’s drive a stake into the heart of that monster once and for all.

Sen. Dino Rossi, R-Sammamish, represents the 45th Legislation District. Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-University Place, represents the 28th Legislative District. For more information, visit www.majoritycoalitioncaucus.org.