Car tabs will cost $20 more for Seattle drivers

Seattle motorists will pay $20 more for their license-plate tabs starting in May to support the transportation fund.

City Council members have said for months they would approve the car-tab fee, and they voted 9-0 Monday to enact it, under authority of the state's "transportation benefit district" law. It is projected to collect $6.8 million a year for roads and other projects.

Overall, Mayor Mike McGinn's proposed budget would spend $313 million on transportation next year, compared with $310 million this year. The $20 car-tab fee, along with higher parking fees and taxes, would cushion recession-related losses in city dollars for roads, and allow increases to bicycle and pedestrian programs.

Councils in Lake Forest Park, Des Moines, Edmonds, Olympia, Prosser and Shoreline previously enacted $20 car-tab fees, while Snoqualmie will begin a $20 fee and Burien a $10 fee in 2011, according to the state Department of Licensing.