I-985 raids money from the state general fund
The Department of Revenue estimates that I-985 will take over $290 million from the General Fund by the end of the next 2-year budget cycle:
FY 2009: $51.7 million (It’d only be in effect for half the year.)
FY 2010: $114.4 million
FY 2011: $123.9 million
It raises a good question: what could you do with $290 million? Certainly, you could do better than to siphon it from all over the state to pay for some pet transportation projects in urban Puget Sound.