Monorail Q&A

Here's the summary of the ballot proposal that Seattle voters approved in 2002. For the complete text, go to www.elevated.org/_downloads/board/petition1.pdf

Citizen Petition No. 1 proposes to create a Seattle monorail authority and implement the initial phase of a city monorail system by constructing and operating a 14 mile monorail line from Ballard and West Seattle to Downtown (the Green Line).

The monorail authority would be a new governmental authority with a nine-member governing board. The members of the Elevated Transportation Company would serve as the Interim Board. Within 14 months following voter approval of this proposition, a monorail authority Board, nominated and appointed by a combination of the Interim Board, the City Council and the Mayor, shall assume governance. Beginning 2003, two positions shall be elected, and between 2005 and 2009, the monorail authority will submit a proposal to the voters to make a majority of the Board positions elected.

To finance the initial segment of the monorail system, the monorail authority could levy and collect a 1.4% motor vehicle excise tax (MVET). The MVET would annually cost car owners in the city of Seattle 1.4% of the value of their vehicle; e.g., the owner of a $10,000 car would pay $140 a year. Without further voter approval, the monorail authority would not be able to: (1) issue more than $1.5 billion of debt (in 2002 dollars) for an initial line and second-line planning; (2) continue to levy the MVET after all the initial phase debt has been paid; or (3) use the MVET after 2020 to pay for the noncapital costs of operating or maintaining the Green Line.