From Seattlepi.com:

Now the next transit-expansion campaign debate can begin in earnest.

Sound Transit board members on Thursday voted to place another expansion measure on November’s ballot, a measure now estimated to cost $22.8 billion when the debt is repaid.

Residents in the urban areas of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties last November rejected a 20-year, $30.8 billion proposal that was part of a larger roads and transit improvement measure. Polled voters later told officials they thought that package was too expensive and took too long.

Now Sound Transit is betting that taxpayers will go for a shorter version, financed with a 0.5 percent increase in sales taxes.

This time, several things are different: Gas prices have risen to more than $4 per gallon, transit ridership is rising in response and another big environmental group is supporting the new package.

However, a former top state transportation official opposes it. And previous opponents are back, arguing this package, too, isn’t a good deal.

“It’ll be a great debate,” said King County Councilman Larry Phillips, one of the 16 board members who voted for the new plan.

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