WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. -- A Whatcom County judge said the wording of a local transit tax ballot measure is inaccurate, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
The ballot measure asks voters if bus service should be “maintained and improved” with a two-tenths of a percent sales tax increase for the Whatcom Transportation Authority.
Tax opponent Brett Bonner said that’s wrong.
“When citizens vote, they’ll be looking at biased language – misleading information – that’s just not right,” said Bonner.
“And we ought to be able to look at a fair description of what the tax will do.”
Superior Court Judge Steven Mura somewhat agrees - saying Wednesday that nothing in the measure mentions “improving” service and the word “maintain” can have many different meanings.
Though he agreed with People for Progressive Transportation, the group that brought the suit, Mura dismissed it because he said they filed it too late under state law.
So, WTA spokesperson Maureen McCarthy said, the language won’t change.
“We believe that this language will give local voters a very clear sense of what it is they’re being asked to decide,” McCarthy said.
The ballot measure goes before voters in a special election on April 27th.
E-Mail
Print
