Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before.
Everyone – well, almost everyone … I’m talking to you, libertarians! – knows we need to do something about transportation in this state. But just like last year, when a deal between the House and the Senate to let voters decide on a 1 percent sales tax for transportation died at the stroke of midnight on the last day of the session, the two chambers disagree again on a funding mechanism.
The House wants a statewide referendum in 2010 on a T-SPLOST that would generate an estimated $25 to 29 billion over 10 years. The money would go toward dozens of projects around the state, including Ga. Highway 316 and Athens Perimeter improvements, the Brain Train and grants that Athens-Clarke officials can spend however they choose. The full list is available here.
The Senate, on the other hand, wants to create a 10-county metro Atlanta region that would collectively draw up projects and vote on the tax. Outside that region, counties could put together T-SPLOSTS on their own or band together with other counties. That proposal passed the Senate today.
A 1 percent sales tax in Athens would generate about $20 million per year that could go toward Athens Transit, road widening or resurfacing, bike lanes, rebuilding backed-up Loop interchanges or any number of popular projects. But even if Athens-Clarke County worked with Oconee, Barrow and Gwinnett counties, the money a T-SPLOST generated wouldn’t be enough for the Brain Train, especially since other projects would share the money and voters in one or more counties in the region could opt out.
But, unlike the statewide approach, we would be assured that the tax would pass, at least locally. Athens voters approved the last SPLOST referendum in 2004 by a two-to-one margin. Folks outside metro Atlanta might not be keen on taxing themselves to pay for mostly urban and suburban infrastructure they’ll rarely use.
The approach that makes the most sense to me is one where counties group themselves into regions and hold a region-wide vote. That way, one county – say, Barrow – couldn’t scuttle a project like the Brain Train that the others wanted.
Let’s put this to the test and hold a mini-referendum right here. Which T-SPLOST do you prefer?
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I lived in Europe for over
I lived in Europe for over 10 years and the thing I enjoyed most was jumping on a train most anywhere at most anytime and going most anywhere comfortably and rather quickly at a fair price and knowing that my car would still be in one piece in the parking lot when I got back. I would be willing to pay to have such a transportation system in Georgia (so I could get to the Fox Theater in Atlanta occasionally) both through taxes and fares, but nowadays I am very wary of SPLOSTs. When you say things like, "grants that Athens-Clarke officials can spend however they choose," and "any number of popular projects," I get cold feet. I like targeted taxes to the extent possible and reasonable even when they're not called taxes (such as the lottery designated for education expenditures). For example, many European countries charge you an annual fee to use their Autobahn/Autostrada. Hence, bike lanes should be paid for by bikers, road improvements by motorists, etc. The only thing I would vote for is a Brain Train SPLOST which you suggest won't happen anyway. But, if it were possible, of the two types you suggest, obviously I prefer the Senate/metro region plan since I don't think folks in Valdosta ought to have to underwrite a Brain Train.
The SPLOST projects we have
The SPLOST projects we have now are not spent any old way the ACC gov't want to... no the lists of projects were developed within the community, then voted on by the commission prior to the SPLOST being put on the ballot... I cannot see a T-SPLOST working differently than that... you won't get public buy-in without it.
Actually, the A-CC SPLOST
Actually, the A-CC SPLOST has several projects in it that are merely general transportation spending categories, such as intersection improvements, bridge repairs, repaving and sidewalks. Within those general categories, the commission chooses which specific roads, bridges, sidewalks and intersections to build or fix when funding becomes available.
Similarly, the House T-SPLOST proposal would include general transportation grants to all cities with populations of more than 15,000. These grants are likely to be small in the grand scheme of things, but could presumably be spent on any transportation project the local government desired.