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Sound Transit's car-tab schedule taxes newer cars at a higher value than the 2006 schedule

Taxable value as a percentage of base MSRP, by year of service, under the schedule Sound Transit uses now and under the 2006 schedule state law says replaces it after the pre-2015 bonds are repaid.

Credit: FactHub Research Team, from RCW 82.44.035 and Washington legislative staff analyses

Node: chart:sound-transit-mvet-schedule-comparison

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Line chart of taxable value as a percent of base MSRP by year of service. The schedule in use starts at 100% and falls to 95, 89, 83, 74, 65, 57, 48, 40 and 31% by year 10, then 22% in year 11 and 10% from year 13. The 2006 schedule starts at 85% and falls to 68.85, 61.2, 53.55, 46.75, 39.95, 34.85, 30.6, 27.2 and 22.95% by year 10, 22.1% in year 11, then 20.4, 19.55, 17.85, 13.6 and 8.5%. — For cars in their first ten years, the schedule Sound Transit uses values them 1.18 to 1.64 times as high as the 2006 schedule; the gap is largest for cars five to eight years old. The two schedules are nearly equal in year 11, and from year 12 to 15 the schedule in use values cars lower than the 2006 schedule.

What this chart asks

How does the taxable value of a car of each age differ between the schedule in use and the 2006 schedule?

Why it is shown this way

A line per schedule shows the gap between them at every age and where the lines cross.
The y axis starts at zero so the size of the gap is not exaggerated.
Values are percentages of base MSRP so the comparison does not depend on the price of any one car.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

Schedules cross at year 11; older cars are valued lower under the schedule in use: 11

Data and accessibility

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Dataset sound-transit-mvet-valuation-schedules, analysis value-by-age

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Sound Transit car-tab valuation: the schedule in use vs. the 2006 schedule

Washington State Legislature 2006 valuation schedule (85% of base MSRP times Schedule B percentages)
Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record (Washington statute). Statutory text is public and may be reproduced.

Reliability: Government. Official Revised Code of Washington text maintained by the Code Reviser. Enacted by SSB 6247 (2006) after a Joint Transportation Committee study.
Washington State Senate Committee on Transportation Schedule 1 percentages in use by DOL and Sound Transit
Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record (legislative staff analysis). Public legislative document.

Reliability: Government. Prepared by nonpartisan Senate committee staff in 2017 for a bill to switch Sound Transit to Kelley Blue Book values. It reproduces both schedules side by side.
Washington State House Office of Program Research Cross-check of both schedules
Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public record (legislative staff analysis). Public legislative document.

Reliability: Government. Nonpartisan House staff analysis of Initiative 976 (2019). Its schedule tables match the Senate report and RCW 82.44.035.
Sound Transit Combined 1.1% rate and $110 per $10,000 of depreciated value
Retrieved October 18, 2026. Public agency document. Linked, not redistributed.

Reliability: Party to the dispute. Has a stake in this finding. Sound Transit collects the tax and defends its use of the older schedule. Its rate and bond-retirement figures match state law and court records.

Limitations

Both lines are statutory taxable values, not market values; neither is Kelley Blue Book or a sale price.
Passenger cars and light trucks only; heavier trucks use other schedules.
Year 16 stands for 16 or older.

Articles and datasets using this chart

Article Sound Transit's 1990s car-tab schedule overvalues newer cars.

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this chart each cites.

Article sound-transit-car-tab-valuation — version 1 (published) cites version 1