After studying the latest financing plan for the monorail, John Haley, the new director, recommended continued pursuit of the project and called for completion of a contract by the end of December.

The monorail board of directors unanimously agreed.

"I think we should proceed with the Green Line," Haley said. "It is complicated but it appears to be viable."

Two days later, Mayor Greg Nickels drew quite a different conclusion.

"The financing plan presented to me is not prudent," Nickels said in a statement last Friday. "It relies on a risky assumption that money from car tabs will grow faster than expert economists consider reasonable."

The mayor requested the Seattle City Council place a measure on the November ballot asking voters what they think.

Nickels also announced he will cancel the transit-way agreement between the city and the Monorail Project. That is the document permitting the monorail to be built along city-owned streets.

In reaction to the mayor's edict, the Monorail Project board of directors could decide to put its own measure on the November ballot seeking a fifth positive vote, said Natasha Jones, monorail spokeswoman.

Haley recommended the monorail board keep pursuing a contract with Cascadia Monorail Co. because he'd determined the latest financing plan would work. However he also suggested finding ways to boost revenue and reduce costs.

"The financing plan is a work in progress," Haley said.

Much criticism has been leveled at the monorail project because its sole source of steady money, the motor vehicle excise tax, has been accumulating only at about two-thirds the rate originally expected. But Haley was hopeful because the motor vehicle excise tax previously was predicted to grow at a lower rate than Seattle's population, which he thinks is unlikely.

In the last 10 years, the car tab tax grew about 8 percent. Yet the motor vehicle excise tax is forecasted to increase only 6.1 percent.

Federal money also could be available to help pay for the monorail, Haley said.

The monorail has some positive things going for it, Haley said. The motor vehicle excise tax is a dedicated revenue source the monorail can count on to cover some of the costs.

Another plus is the project has a defined and approved route. Haley, who's worked on transit projects from San Francisco to Boston, called that a "major advantage." Additionally, most of the property for the Green Line has already been acquired.

An environmental impact statement has been completed and approved too.

"These are all critical to success," he said.

During his review of the project, Haley also examined the contract negotiated with the Cascadia Monorail Co. to design, build, operate and maintain the Green Line. He called for more negotiations with Cascadia to work out construction costs and to re-examine the operation and maintenance aspects of the contract.

He discounted criticism that there was limited competition for the bid, pointing out that Team Monorail was in the hunt for a while. He also noted the level of political support the project has had among voters.

Haley considered the possibility of abandoning the project but concluded that could be an irreversible decision, so he rejected it.

He thought of going back to the voters for another endorsement of the project but decided against it since the Green Line would still be 14 miles long and will follow the same route. Nor is the Monorail Project seeking more taxes or a new source of revenue, so he saw no need to ask voters for yet another endorsement. But that was before the mayor said he wants it on the ballot in November.

Haley didn't think rebidding the project was worthwhile either. Opening up the bidding process would not result in more competition, a lower price, nor improve the chances for success, he said.

"I've never been involved in a (mass transit) project that didn't increase property values," Haley said, adding later. "I've never seen a city that regretted installing mass transit."

Tim St. Clair can be reached at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.