Paul Harris of Vancouver, a Republican candidate for the Legislature, continued to drive his 2005 Dodge truck with Oregon plates for two years after the Portland-area paint company he owned, and to which the truck was licensed, went out of business in 2008.
He fixed what he called “an oversight” Saturday, paying $1,160 in sales and use tax and licensing fees to the state of Washington, after a Democratic party leader circulated information about his out-of-state plates, along with a photo showing the truck parked at Harris’s Vancouver home.
“This is not acceptable behavior for a potential state representative and something voters in the 17th Legislative District will want to know,” said Pete Aller, chairman of the 17th District Democratic Central Committee, in an e-mail. Harris was the top vote-getter in last week’s primary for an open seat in the 17th.
Harris took corrective action two days after The Columbian called to inquire about his out-of-state plates.
The truck was registered in Oregon under co-ownership to Harris and to Main Street Paint in Tigard, Ore., one of two paint stores Harris owned.
Registering the truck in Washington was “ something that should have been done when the company closed,” he acknowledged in a voice mail Saturday. “ I will get that handled this weekend.”
In an interview Monday, Harris said the truck was used for paint deliveries across the state of Oregon from 2005 to 2008. He continued to drive it for personal use after the business closed, and he is using it in his current legislative campaign.
His failure to get the car licensed in Washington “ was just an oversight, an accident that happened,” he said.
Harris said the state valued the truck at $12,000, even though it has 191,000 miles on it. If he had deliberately decided to avoid paying the state sales tax, Harris said, he would have skipped licensing his Lexus, not his five-year-old truck.
Just last month, two state troopers began ticketing drivers who were violating state licensing laws by living in Clark County for more than 30 days and still having out-of-state plates on their vehicles.
License cheaters deprive the state of Washington of an estimated $10 million in revenue each year. A successful program to catch these scofflaws was killed by the 2009 Legislature but restored by lawmakers this year. It’s expected to generate more than enough revenue to pay for its $325,000 annual cost. Already, the two state troopers who run the program, with help from trained volunteers, have received more than 600 leads about possible licensing violators.
Aller said Harris needs to be held accountable.
“It’s disingenuous that somebody who is asking for the public’s trust in electing them to office is willing to cheat the system and avoid paying use taxes and registration fees that support local law enforcement (and) public education,” he said in an e-mail.
Harris said he doubts the slip will hurt his election campaign.
“I think this will resonate with some of the public,” he said. “We all forget about things from time to time. … This is pretty benign.”
