Published Monday, May 18, 2026 in The Everett Herald
Vehicle License Fee Considered to Close $9 Million Public Works Shortfall
By Taylor Scott Richmond
To help close a $9 million shortfall, the Snohomish County Council considered on Wednesday adding an annual $20 vehicle license fee.
While the council approved the structure for collecting the revenue, it postponed voting on the vehicle fee.
Public Works Director Kelly Snyder proposed the fee on cars registered in unincorporated Snohomish County to retain 34 staff positions, maintain 14 ongoing construction projects and save $66 million in grant funding, which requires a portion to be matched by the county.
"We have to have a 10-20% match. If we don’t have a 10-20% match we can’t keep the grant," Snyder said in a May 12 interview. "This didn’t happen overnight. This has happened over several years. We have made some very key and strategic decisions about how to reduce our expenditures. We would never want to go out and ask for additional funds if we haven’t looked internally and figured out how to save."
Public Works has 74 positions left unfilled to save money, she said. The department reduced its overall operating cost by $10 million a year and has delayed $100 million worth of projects, Snyder said. The department would need to make additional cuts because the vehicle license fee would cover only $6 million of the $9 million shortfall, she said.
"We will do more cuts, obviously, because we have to have a balanced budget,” Snyder said. “It helps us maintain that maintenance and operations, which is so crucial."
The shortfall is a result of reduced gas tax revenue and the county road levy’s yearly 1% increase not keeping pace with inflation, she said.
"We keep seeing year after year construction inflation anywhere around 30-40%," Snyder said.
Under state law, the county would need to establish a Transportation Benefit District to collect the new revenue. The Snohomish County Council heard the public speak Wednesday on the proposed benefit district. Everyone who spoke was in favor of the funding, including Nathan Howard, a member of the county’s labor union Local 109-E.
"I won’t pretend that this is popular. Nobody likes car tabs," Howard said. "This isn’t the long-term answer. It’s the stopgap maintenance that keeps 34 families employed and keeps this county moving forward and not backward. It takes courage to do an unpopular thing that is right to do. I’m asking the council to have that courage today."
Brent Kirk, Granite Fall’s deputy city manager, said how important county roads are to his city.
"Everybody in our town that’s a resident uses your roads. That’s how they get to work and that’s how they do their commerce," Kirk said. "The city’s had partnerships with the county for years to do things like street striping and shoulder mowing and things of that nature, and I’ve noticed over the last decade that the ability to utilize that service has kind of gone downhill."Natalie Reber, a spokesperson from the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, said the funds would keep new housing development going.
"It’s really important that we keep the infrastructure reliable and so that we can continue to deliver housing to our growing communities," she said. "We think that this approach helps to ensure that infrastructure costs are shared broadly, rather than falling disproportionately on new housing."
The county has eight roads at risk of going to arrears in the next 10 years, Snyder said May 12. Meaning, the level of road service is so poor they could no longer accept new development.
After hearing the public speak Wednesday, the council voted unanimously to create the Transportation Benefit District but pushed the vehicle license fee back to committee for further discussion.
"I have concerns, not about doing the TBD, but I have concerns about making sure that we do the right thing for our county,” council member Sam Low said during the meeting. The license fee is still on the table, he said, but the council needs to have a “broader discussion to make sure that we’re covering all the needs and everything that needs to be done."
Public Works may need other forms of revenue, along with the license fee, including a levy lid lift that, if approved by voters, would allow the road levy to raise more than 1%, council member Jared Mead said.
"If we don’t fix the structural issues with how we approach roads funding," he said, "We’re going to be back here next year."
"County government should be focused very strongly on public infrastructure and public safety," Mead added. "Those are our core responsibilities. I think we’re coming up short."
After the meeting, Low said he suggested delaying the vote because it is important for the council to be on the same page.
"As you heard the comments today, there’s definitely a lot of different ideas with the five council members," he said. "I think that committee meeting in the next couple of weeks, we can get all on a page."
"This isn’t something that’s going to linger on for months and month and months," Low added.
The delay may still mean losing out on the $66 million in grants, Snyder said in an interview after the Wednesday meeting.
""I told council we need an action by June 1," she said. "That last referral to committee will not be June 1, so I have to go back and assess what this means."
Until she is able to do some math, and the council takes clear action, Snyder said she is feeling unsettled.
"These are tough budget times, not just for roads but all of the county," Snyder said. "We’re all struggling with very similar things. So, I think it’s just unsettling."