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In 1996, voters within the Sound Transit District voted to approve "Sound Move," which imposed a variety of local taxes to fund the construction of public transit such as bus lines, commuter trains and light rail.
In the years to follow, voters would then approve ST2 in 2008 that added additional taxes or tax increases, followed by voter-approved ST3 in 2016, both of which expand or seek to expand on existing services.
In the 29 years since "Sound Move" was first approved, the three transportation packages have generated more than $20 billion for the regional transit authority, with almost half of it raised in a five-year period. This is according to information obtained by The Center Square via public records requests, along with an analysis of the agency’s annual reports regarding non-operating tax revenue.
When "Sound Move" was approved, it was a 10-year plan that imposed a 0.4% local sales and use tax and a 0.3% motor vehicle excise tax and rental car tax. In 1997 during its first tax collection year, it generated $158.1 million.
By 2008 when ST2 was approved by voters, that revenue had doubled to $336.5 million, with the bulk of total annual revenues coming from the local sales and use tax. ST2 imposed its own the local sale and use tax as well as the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax and rental car tax rate.
The year after ST2 was approved for a 15-year transportation plan, annual tax revenue increased to $511 million, with 100% of that increased revenue coming from the combined local sales taxes. Annual revenue continued to increase until it reached $572 million in 2010, only to decrease to $528 million in 2011. It recovered the next year and by 2013 had reached almost $600 million.
Between 1996 and 2013, Sound Transit generated $6 billion in tax revenue.
When ST3 was placed on the ballot in 2016, revenue by then had reached $866.8 million. Considered one of the largest local transportation packages ever proposed to expand its existing light rail and bus rapid transit, ST3 also imposed its own sales and use tax, MVET, along with a 25-cent per $1,000 property tax. The initial plan was to complete the latest construction project by 2041, but has since been pushed back to 2046 by the Sound Transit Board.
After ST3 was approved by voters that November by 54%, annual revenue increased to $1.3 billion in 2017, then $1.848 billion in 2018. The latest figures provided by Sound Transit show that in 2024 tax revenue was almost $3 billion, though that year’s figure includes “other financing sources.”
In total, more than $21.8 billion in tax revenue was generated by Sound Transit between 1996-2023, with $10.3 billion raised between 2019-2023 alone.