Plan would trade tax break for old cars

OLYMPIA – Does your car have only an AM radio? Can you see the asphalt through the rust holes underfoot? Do you pull away from every stoplight in a choking cloud of oily smoke?

If so, does Doug Ericksen ever have a deal for you.

The Republican lawmaker from Bellingham is proposing a big tax break designed to sweep pollution-spewing older cars off the road. Under the plan, the state would waive sales taxes on new cars purchased by motorists driving cars at least 15 years old. If the rest of the Legislature agrees – which is by no means certain – the change would shave hundreds of dollars off the price of even the very cheapest new cars, and thousands of dollars off the price of most expensive.

“I wanted something that would clean up the air as quickly as possible,” he said Wednesday. “Old cars are clearly the biggest polluters.”

In Spokane, the tax on a new car is 8.7 percent, or about $2,175 on a $25,000 car.

“It’s not chump change,” said Ericksen.

Motorists would lose any trade-in value, however, because the plan would require the old car be destroyed.

“I’m not going after the classic ‘57 Chevy,” he said. “I’m going more after the Plymouth Duster.”

He said he intends to introduce the tax break as a bill this legislative session, which starts Monday. The Democrats who control the Legislature and the governor’s mansion “should love this idea,” he said. “Maybe they’ll steal it and put their name on it. For me, it’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Anacortes, said it’s an interesting idea.

“Those old cars, if you look at the numbers, for every one of those that you get off the road you could run like 10 new ones for the amount of pollution that comes out of them,” said Morris. “From a public health point of view, it’s a good investment.”

But reactions were lukewarm among other Democrats and an environmental lobbyist.

“I think we’re open to that, but I’d want to see the price tag,” said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

Ericksen said the cost is hard to predict, because there’s no way of knowing how many old-car owners would be able to afford a new car, even with the tax break.

“My general sense is that anything that isn’t already packaged with a bow on it will have a pretty tough time making it through a short legislative session,” said Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-Seattle.

“I doubt we would support something like that,” said Clifford Traisman, who lobbies for the Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters. “It doesn’t sound like the best use of taxpayer dollars to protect the environment.”

Ericksen said his bill will set some rules to prevent misuse of the tax break, such as destruction of the car. It would also have to have been registered in Washington for the past two years, a condition intended to prevent people from resurrecting hulks from junkyards – or bringing beaters in from other states – just to get a tax break on a new car.

Although he’s consulted with car dealers on the proposal, he said the bill isn’t being done at their request.

“I approached them, to be honest with you,” he said. “It was completely from me.”