Rail funding redux?
Former foes unite to propose transportation funding fix
The Atlanta Tea Party Patriots’ Debbie Dooley and Sierra Club lobbyist Neill Herring typically don’t agree on much. But last week, just hours before metro Atlanta was paralyzed by a deep freeze and became a national punch line, the odd couple joined conservatives and business boosters to announce a bipartisan proposal that would help build transit, roads, and bridges.
The diverse group, which includes the Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Transportation Alliance, and others, is pushing the first real effort to generate transportation funding since metro Atlanta voters overwhelmingly rejected a 1 percent sales tax in 2012. Known as T-SPLOST, the measure would have raised $6.1 billion in 10 metro Atlanta counties for transportation fixes.
Unlike the T-SPLOST, the coalition’s proposal would allow two or more counties to partner rather than a predetermined group of counties. Fulton and DeKalb counties, for example, could partner and, if voters approve, levy a 1 cent sales tax to build new rail lines, buy more buses, or kick-start transit along the Atlanta Beltline.
“The overall discussion has to be, do we continue having the infrastructure we had?” said coalition organizer Charlie Harper, the executive director of a new advocacy group called PolicyBEST and editor of the right-leaning Georgia political blog Peach Pundit.
In addition, the coalition wants Georgia lawmakers to dedicate the fourth penny of all motor fuel taxes to fund transportation. Currently, those revenues go to the state’s general fund, which lawmakers can spend as they wish. The supporters estimate that move could generate as much as $200 million for transportation projects across the state. They’re also calling for state lawmakers to allow a fractional sales tax — currently verboten in Georgia — to allow more flexibility in funding.
The coalition came together to brainstorm the plan after voters rejected 2012’s T-SPLOST. Leading up to metro Atlanta’s unsuccessful referendum, some counties expressed frustration being forced to fund projects that wouldn’t reduce their commutes. For instance, Cherokee County expressed little interest in paying for the Beltline. And Fulton County had little interest in helping fund Clayton County’s C-Tran bus system.
State Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, has introduced legislation that jibes with much of what the group has agreed to support. He says his proposal, which was introduced last year, would get counties the freedom to fund specific projects they wanted. (PolicyBEST hasn’t endorsed Setzler’s proposal just yet. (“We don’t need it to pass quick, we need it to pass right,” Harper said.)
“This is county self-determination,” said Setzler. “This legislation is respectful of counties.”
Setzler’s bill was scheduled for a committee hearing last week but was delayed by the snowstorm. He’s stressing the legislation needs to be improved before the 40-day session ends. The earliest the law, if approved, could take effect is 2016. Waiting four more years, he said, could mean counties that need transit and congestion relief will be forced to wait. The clock is ticking.