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County postpones decision on transit tax

Posted on February 16, 2012February 15, 2012 by Staff

By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer

Before the Orange County Board of Commissioners decides on adding a half-cent transit tax to the November ballot, they say they need more time to nail down details and receive public input.

The commissioners heard in-depth presentations at their work session on Tuesday about the next steps for constructing light rail, Chapel Hill’s development plans as they correspond with a future light-rail line along the N.C. 54 corridor and reasons for pursuing both light rail and bus improvements instead of just an expansion of bus transit.

While the commissioners agreed they had a better understanding of the light-rail plan, they said they still needed to work out the details of agreements between the Triangle Transit Authority, the county’s municipalities and Durham.

However, if the county wants to add the transit tax – which would help fund the light rail and bus improvements – to the November ballot, the commissioners are going to have to work quickly to determine specific language for the agreements, cost-sharing ideas between Durham and Orange County and how to ensure that the transit program benefits the entire county.

“I think we are being highly optimistic to think that we can nail down three agreements in the time necessary to put this on the ballot,” Commissioner Barry Jacobs said.
Commissioner Alice Gordon agreed with Jacobs, adding that it might be more practical simply to create the outlines of the agreement so the project can continue to move forward on schedule.

If the commissioners don’t add the transit tax to the fall ballot, it could have serious repercussions for the New Starts grant application that could provide federal-government money to help fund the plan.

“If we do not put the sales tax on the ballot, that would be a negative for the New Starts application, because they want to see a commitment of local monies,” Chair Bernadette Pelissier said.

In his presentation about Chapel Hill’s development plans in relation to the construction of a light-rail system, Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt ensured the commissioners that the economic growth light rail could create would help sales-tax revenues, benefiting the entire county.

Kleinschmidt referenced studies done by the town in the ’90s showing that light rail along U.S. 15-501, a corridor the commissioners have indicated interest in exploring, would not be beneficial for the county, citing cost and station location issues.

“We determined that 15-501 would not be appropriate for light rail, but enhanced bus transit would be important for it, and we still believe that,” he said.

However, Commissioner Earl McKee again expressed his opposition to the light-rail costs and the possibility of a transit tax, saying that he was “adamantly opposed” to asking county residents to vote on the tax.

The board agreed to create a timeline for public meetings that would allow for citizen comments on the transit tax.

1 thought on “County postpones decision on transit tax”

  1. Chris Weaver says:
    February 17, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    This needs pause. This is an expenditure that will see no end. Nationally Light Rail looses $4 per rider. Charlotte is loosing $20 per rider. The FTA data is there for anyone to see. The pretense that this will boost Economic Development is a dream. A train serving one community at one end of a county that will straddled with paying for a utility they will never use…will never surmount the Historic Hostility to Development. It seems this Hostility is on display weekly. One only need to drive the outside borders to see where industry is moving to. Key word: outside.
    Show me a rail in the nation Built on Budget and self-sustaining.
    There is one. It’s in Orlando.
    Orange cannot afford it and the merit is lacking to shackle taxpayers to it.

    Prior to attaching the burden of a expensive utility to the ankles of those whom would never use it, I would like to see the ridership of the Chapel Hill Fixed Bus Routes to try paying for those trips to gauge desire for the pittance share of paying for a Train.
    I love riding a train just as much as anyone else. But there is no merit in the entire county subsidizing such a long term expenditure that will never sustain itself.
    Chris Weaver

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