MARTA to face drastic cuts after bill stalls

[bobdreamz]

articles like this make me glad Miami Dade County has had a Home Rule Charter since 1957. The county was able to put a half cent tax on the ballot without state approval. It passed in 2002 and was only intended to be used for the expansion of Metrorail lines and new buses and service. The transit agency has had a operational funding shortfall for years before the passage of the sales tax so instead they decided to cover past shortfalls with the new sales tax money. Did it require state approval to does this? No, instead the County commission voted to cover past operating shortfalls with the proceeds of the sales tax.
It almost a similar situation to Atlanta's since the sales tax was meant just for expansion not operating cost shortfalls. Florida does give all transit agencies in the state money.
I honestly feel bad for Atlanta having to be in this predicament because it is similar to what Miami goes through in Tallahasse when it comes to funding projects.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

articles like this make me glad Miami Dade County has had a Home Rule Charter since 1957. The county was able to put a half cent tax on the ballot without state approval. It passed in 2002 and was only intended to be used for the expansion of Metrorail lines and new buses and service. The transit agency has had a operational funding shortfall for years before the passage of the sales tax so instead they decided to cover past shortfalls with the new sales tax money. Did it require state approval to does this? No, instead the County commission voted to cover past operating shortfalls with the proceeds of the sales tax.
It almost a similar situation to Atlanta's since the sales tax was meant just for expansion not operating cost shortfalls. Florida does give all transit agencies in the state money.
I honestly feel bad for Atlanta having to be in this predicament because it is similar to what Miami goes through in Tallahasse when it comes to funding projects.

Home rule isn't the issue here though. Georgia is one of those states that gives home rule powers to every county, and counties have greater revenue-raising power than municipalities do. That's why so much of metro Atlanta is unincorporated. The issue here is that state law limits the maximum additional sales tax a county can impose and revenue raised from it must be spent on the purpose the tax was adopted for. The core counties of Atlanta are at their limit of 7% (4% state plus 3% local options), which is the maximum allowed under the current system. The City of Atlanta has an additional 1% which was approved by the state legislature to fix their sewer system.

Since MARTA is a regional entity crossing into multiple counties, such inter-local agreements must have state approval. If the metro area had one large dominant county and MARTA merely served that county, this would not be an issue.

The situation with Miami-Dade is much more similar to other metro areas such as Houston or Chicago. In Chicago, for instance, you have over 300 municipalities in the picture because Illinois places home rule power in the hands of municipalities. Because of this, regional agencies have a much easier time beating local units of government into submission: it's the whole "divide and conquer" theory. In Atlanta, with the exception of the ARC, there is no impetus for regional planning because the power structure is different.

[bobdreamz]

^ thanks for clearing that up Rail.

[scpatl4now]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

Home rule isn't the issue here though. Georgia is one of those states that gives home rule powers to every county, and counties have greater revenue-raising power than municipalities do. That's why so much of metro Atlanta is unincorporated. The issue here is that state law limits the maximum additional sales tax a county can impose and revenue raised from it must be spent on the purpose the tax was adopted for. The core counties of Atlanta are at their limit of 7% (4% state plus 3% local options), which is the maximum allowed under the current system. The City of Atlanta has an additional 1% which was approved by the state legislature to fix their sewer system.

Since MARTA is a regional entity crossing into multiple counties, such inter-local agreements must have state approval. If the metro area had one large dominant county and MARTA merely served that county, this would not be an issue.

The situation with Miami-Dade is much more similar to other metro areas such as Houston or Chicago. In Chicago, for instance, you have over 300 municipalities in the picture because Illinois places home rule power in the hands of municipalities. Because of this, regional agencies have a much easier time beating local units of government into submission: it's the whole "divide and conquer" theory. In Atlanta, with the exception of the ARC, there is no impetus for regional planning because the power structure is different.

Governor Roy Barnes tried to create something like that with GRTA. It would have been a "super agency" that would have had ultimate authority over any transit decisions. Unfortunately, the current governor gutted it as one of his first acts 7yrs ago. Georgia suffers from a "where's mine" mentality when it comes to funding. Rural areas are never able to deal with the fact that the Atlanta Metro needs more of the funding, and their state reps are more than happy to divert funding away from the Atlanta Metro to fund their 'pet projects'. I just fear that the total dysfunction here will screw us when it comes to future growth. One only has to look at the progress Charlotte has made in public transit to see how far behind we will be

[jew4life4948]

MARTA may fund projects as ARC payback

Atlanta Regional Commission wants to use stimulus money to help MARTA pay for operations

By ARIEL HART
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, April 20, 2009
Fulton and DeKalb counties may get new sidewalk and pedestrian upgrades or park-and-ride lots as MARTA attempts to pay back the Atlanta Regional Commission for helping MARTA ease a funding gap.
The ARC hopes to use $25 million in stimulus project money to plug a MARTA funding gap for operations, and avoid severe service cuts.

In return, ARC and MARTA officials said, MARTA hopes to pay for projects useful to the ARC counties with money the state says can be used only for projects, not operations. MARTA has accumulated $65 million in capital reserves.
MARTA’s money would have to fund projects that complement transit service somehow. The exact projects haven’t been decided.
If the plan works, Fulton and DeKalb counties would wind up with more sidewalk and transit-related projects, and the other ARC counties would get the same stimulus projects they were counting on before.
The plans still have to go through more approvals, and legal review.