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RESOLUTION NO. 4 4 0 5
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, OPPOSING
INITIATIVE 985
WHEREAS, pursuant to RCW 42.17.130, state law restricts how or
whether cities may use their facilities for support of or opposition to ballot
measures; and
WHEREAS, RCW 42.17.130 does, however, authorize city councils to
express collective decisions supporting or opposing ballot measures where the
action to support or oppose the measure is taken at a public meeting of the city
council and so long as the notice for the meeting includes the agenda item of
consideration of the ballot measure proposition and members of the legislative
body afford an equal opportunity for people to express opposing views; and
WHEREAS, Initiative 985 (I-985) is an initiative that is scheduled to come
before the voters of this state and affect the City of Auburn and its traffic control
programs; and
WHEREAS, the text of I-985 does a number of things which may not be
consistent (addressing different problems so that the voters being called to vote
for or against the initiative may be motivated by different elements of the
initiative); and
WHEREAS, for instance, section 2 of the initiative calls for opening car
pool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours; and
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October 14, 2008
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WHEREAS, section 3 of the initiative seeks to amend RCW 47.66.090 so
that only those costs necessary to cover construction and operation of toll lanes
shall be deposited in the appropriate accounts; and
WHEREAS, section 5 of the initiative calls for cities to synchronize traffic
lights of heavily traveled arterials and streets while section 6 provides a similar
call for counties; and
WHEREAS, section 7 of the initiative calls upon the state auditor to
establish performance bench marks to track progress of emergency response
organizations in responding to emergencies and traffic obstructions; and
WHEREAS, section 8 of the initiative redirects revenue from vehicle-
related sources to fund opening car pool lanes to everyone during non-peak
hours to help fund synchronization of traffic lights on heavily traveled arterials
and streets; and
WHEREAS, section 9 of the initiative directs 15 percent of taxes collected
under RCW 82.12.020 on vehicles taxed under RCW 82.08.020(3) (based upon
the rate in RCW 82.08.020(1)) to fund efforts to reduce congestion - in the
reduce traffic congestion account created by section 10 of the initiative; and
WHEREAS, section 10 of the initiative creates a"reduced traffic
congestion account" in the state treasury as a sub-account of the motor vehicle
fund into which certain allocations are to be deposited into that new account; and
WHEREAS, section 11 of the initiative amends RCW 46.63.110 to provide
that revenue that would otherwise be deposited in the city or county current
expense fund from infractions issued under RCW 46.63.170 shall instead be
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October 14, 2008
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dedicated to reducing traffic congestion and shall be deposited in the reduce
traffic congestion account created in section 10 of the initiative; and
WHEREAS, other changes are also slated to change existing other law;
however, among the changes that are proposed in the initiative, the effect for the
City of Auburn and any other cities similarly situated could be to divest the city of
any incentive at all to continue with automated traffic control devices since the
revenue generated by those programs may become revenue of the state and the
new fund created by section 10 of the initiative; and
WHEREAS, the language of the Initiative, as it is currently written, is not
clear, and there are currently inconsistent interpretation of the effects of the
Initiative were it to become law, including an interpretation by the State of
Washington that projects a total loss of revenue to cities from photo enforcement
programs, and an interpretation from other municipal practitioners that sees only
those new revenues generated by the Initiative as going to the state reduced
traffic congestion account; and
WHEREAS, aside from the unclear language of the Initiative, particularly
to the extent that it could put cities in the position where they would not be able to
afford continuing to fund automated traffic calming devices such as photo
enforcement the city employs in its automated red light photo enforcement
program, the Initiative would have significant adverse impacts on local
governments and local control of their traffic concerns; and
WHEREAS, to the extent that the Initiative, if passed, would be to prevent
cities from taking the steps that cities would currently be allowed to employ and
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October 14, 2008
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cities such as Auburn are in fact employing to address the problem of traffic
safety when people run through red lights at traffic controlled intersections, the
initiative should be opposed; and
WHEREAS, were the effect of the initiative as predicted by the State of
Washington, the end result would be that there are significant problems that the
Initiative would pose for the City of Auburn in terms of its ability to afford to
continue with the red light photo enforcement program; and
WHEREAS, in light of the uncertainty of the interpretation of the unclear
language of the Initiative, its implementation could additionally generate legal
challenges to the Initiative that would consume local revenue.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN,
HEREBY RESOLVES as follows:
Section 1. That pursuant to the parameters set forth in RCW 42.17.130
and in compliance therewith, the City Council hereby collectively expresses its
opposition to Initiative 985.
Section 2. That the Mayor is authorized to implement such
administrative procedures as may be necessary to carry out the directives of this
legislation.
Section 3. That this Resolution shall take effect and be in full force
upon passage and signatures hereon.
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October 14, 2008 ,
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Dated and Signed this ~ day of , 2008.
CITY O AUBU
PETER B. LEWIS
MAYOR
ATTEST:
Danielle E. Daskam, City Clerk
APP ED O FORM: ,
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October 14, 2008
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