Small City Impacts from Initiatives

Cities continue to feel reverberations from the wave of tax-limiting initiatives, especially I-695 and I-747. Small cities in particular suffered acute consequences from these anti-tax measures.

Of the 37 cities that lost 30 percent or more of their general fund with the repeal of the motor vehicle excise tax:

• The average population is less than 2,000; and
• Eighty-six percent of those cities had a population of less than 5,000.

Even with the creation of the City-County Assistance Account in 2005, small cities realize only a portion of former MVET revenues.

2001 MVET Loss		2007 City Assistance
Albion	$83,685	$32,035
Bridgeport	$238,724	$102,666
Granger	$227,861	$105,552
Malden	$26,915	$12,116
Nespelem	$21,879	$9,161
Pe Ell	$70,797	$28,666
Vader	$52,406	$25,502

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