Skip to content
The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Community
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • Mill
  • Flora
  • Print Archive
  • About
Menu

Foy pushes regional transit sales tax

Posted on February 12, 2009February 12, 2009 by Staff

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

In his annual state of the town report, Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy said the residents of the Triangle have to be willing to show they’ll help pay for a regional public transit system as an important step in getting one built.

The region has grown and is in need of better public transit, he said, “for our economic health in the future, for our environmental health in the future and, frankly, for our sanity in the future, because we can’t continue to get on Interstate 40 to get around.”

Foy likened building a new transit infrastructure to the founding of Research Triangle Park.

“The park is the product of a vision that a previous generation had and it has now grown to be the economic powerhouse of our region,” Foy said. “I think we need to take the same kind of bold steps.”

He called for residents of Orange, Durham and Wake counties to follow Charlotte’s lead and get behind a half-cent sales tax. Showing a willingness to help pay for a new system will help to attract state and federal funding, which will cover the bulk of the cost.

Foy said Charlotte started planning for transit later than the Triangle but was able to open its regional light-rail system this year because a half-cent sales tax there gave the transit plans momentum. The General Assembly is considering a measure that would allow local governments in the Triangle to raise the sales tax to begin to pay for a new system.

A regional system is necessary, he said, because relying on highways is an end game.

“I-40 cannot continue to be our major transportation artery. It’s getting clogged and it is ultimately going to fail.”

Fourth District Congressman David Price said Wednesday that Foy was on the right track.

“As Mayor Foy said, robust state and local funding is an essential piece of the puzzle in bringing transit to the Triangle and attracting federal support,” Price said. “I’m continuing to work on another important piece – the overly restrictive Federal Transit Administration funding parameters that favor inner cities and are excluding worthy projects in the Triangle.”

Also in his address, the mayor noted several new programs started in the past year, including collaboration with the university in managing Halloween and the relocation of the homeless shelter.

Looking ahead, he said there is concern about how the budget crisis at the state level will affect the town. In the past months, the town has moved to cut budgets and accumulate reserves in anticipation of flagging revenues and potential cuts in state assistance.

“We know from history that we will be affected,” he said. Library services and transit and roadway maintenance funding are among the areas that could see cuts.

Web Archive

© 2025 The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme