The following is a modified version of a segment on The Ari Hoffman Show, Talk Radio 570 KVI
Washington state’s escalating car tab fees—used in part to fund the region’s expanding light rail system—are pushing hundreds of thousands of residents to abandon vehicle registration altogether.
“A Tesla owner who found out it was over $1,000 annually to re-register their car.”
Approximately 600,000 people in WA are driving with expired registration which translates to a minimum of $25.6 million in lost revenue, all because the fees for car tabs are too high pic.twitter.com/hquoXZyS7h
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) July 1, 2025
Ari Hoffman, host of The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, recently broke down the issue on-air, calling attention to a growing revolt against the high cost of renewing car registrations in the Puget Sound region. According to a recent Fox 13 report cited during the show, an estimated 600,000 people are now driving in Washington with expired tabs.
That translates to a minimum of $25.6 million in lost revenue for the state, based on the lowest base fee of $43.25 per vehicle. But as Hoffman pointed out, few—if any—drivers are paying that base rate, thanks to additional fees tied to vehicle value and Sound Transit’s RTA (Regional Transit Authority) taxes.
“Let’s say your car is just a couple of years old. It might be five, six, seven hundred dollars,” Hoffman said. “We played that clip last week of the Tesla owner who found out it was over $1,000 annually to re-register their car.”
For many, the math no longer adds up. Hoffman cited a concept from economics known as the Laffer Curve, which illustrates that overly high taxes can actually reduce revenue as people choose not to comply.
“You’ve reached that point here in Washington,” Hoffman said. “That means the state is now losing money it would have otherwise had.”
The show featured multiple listener messages and calls supporting that view. One listener, James from SeaTac, admitted to driving a car with expired California plates since 2020 and has no plans to register it in Washington.
“I don’t plan on giving the state of Washington any amount of money because we voted for $30 car tabs—how many times? Four times.”
Voters passed that $30 cap through Initiative 976 but was later struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court, a decision Hoffman called a betrayal of the public’s will.
“Even though we vote for it, the Washington State Supreme Court said, ‘We’re gonna back up our Democrat buddies… and throw out the will of the people,’” Hoffman said.
Another listener texted in to say they own 11 vehicles, including trucks, motorcycles, trailers, and a motorhome—all of which have had expired tabs since 2020. Hoffman noted the irony in how expensive car tabs have become, especially given the state’s own budgeting woes.
“You guys are the ones who claim you have this massive budget shortfall, and yet $25.6 million of it—you’re not tracking? If you’re not tracking this, what else aren’t you tracking? What other revenue? What other audits? Who’s not doing the job here?”
He added that if the cost to register a vehicle had remained around $100, most people would have continued paying it.
“We’d complain, but we’d probably all still pay it, right? Because the ticket’s 150 bucks. So you’d say, you know what? Better to just pay the stupid thing and be done with it.”
Instead, many now conclude that it’s cheaper to skip the tabs and risk the fine, especially with fewer police officers on patrol. And with enforcement lax, some drivers are getting creative.
“I bet you if I got a plate that said OUTATIME like the Back to the Future one, or KITT, or ECTO-1A, I could probably drive around and not get ticketed.”
Text messages poured in from listeners who said they had long ago stopped paying for registration. One listener, Jason from Lacey, offered a more humorous take:
“Proof that at least 600,000 people listen to Ari Hoffman.”
