Quote:
Originally Posted by Pessimistic Observer
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/dekal...nd-733524.html
A part of me agrees with this if there is no regional transit system on the ballot or in place dekalb and fulton will pay 1 cent for marta and another cent for some projects that would tie into or rely on marta much like gct and cobb county transit. if theres a regional transit system on the ballot then dekalb and fulton would be paying an extra cent in hopes that the regional system would take over marta some day
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I'm not really sure it means much that Mayor Kasim Reed wasn't apart of this. I think he might produce statements later as needed, but given his status of being the mayor of the central city I think he needs to step up to a position of regional leadership that smaller cities in Dekalb and Fulton don't need to worry about jeopardizing politically as much.
One thing people will need to realize about this tax is if it fails for whatever reason it will lead the region to getting less state funds from the DOT. This is in part a way for the legislature to shift state taxation to sales tax, which is generally seen more favorable in Republican circles. It could be good for the Atlanta region though, in that we don't have to share our revenues with the rest of the state (currently we only get back a little more than 2/3 of what we give to the state).
It is very important in the initial negotiations leaders throughout the region can come up with a proposal voters will pass, which probably means no one will end up being totally happy in the end.
I have posted more expanded thoughts on the matter of the North Fulton Cities (and now the Dekalb cities) complaining about Gwinnett and Cobb Counties on another similar forum. I am not going to reiterate my entire arguments as they were quite lengthy, but I do want to provide some food for thought as we move forward.
I also want people to keep in mind that I am a Gwinnett Co. resident who would like to see Gwinnett Co. join MARTA and pay extra, but I do believe there are some financing concerns that have not been addressed in the more recent attempts of MARTA to entice Gwinnettians into joining and so far haven't been addressed (nor ignored) in the Dekalb/Fulton cities' complaints.
First, we need to acknowledge different parts of the region have different needs. Most people in Gwinnett will not use a MARTA like system in Gwinnett Co. for local trips within the county. Most of our needs are commuter oriented or for developing denser corridors in areas such as the Gwinnett Village CID or the Gwinnett Place Mall area. We also are already self funding our own bus system, which admittedly is not very expansive, but it has weak ridership in the areas where it is most likely to have success.
The last time MARTA approached Gwinnett they showed a vision of extending the the Northeast line, but only for a few stations and no bus service. It seems to me we wouldn't get much for that 1% and that Dekalb and Fulton Countiesy would always have far more under those plans.
Besides having less rail access we also wouldn't have MARTA busing, nor do most Gwinnettians want huge amounts of busing. About half of MARTA's expenses are spent operating their buses. The buses are primarily used for local area routes and circulators to/from rail stations, so I don't think Gwinnett or Cobb County would use those services much nor should the be liable for helping to pay for them.
What I do think is every county needs to help out with are the core services that are truly regional in nature. Mostly being operating costs of MARTA rail in core locations.
I am ok with Gwinnett's share in the beginning being largely spent to make a quicker capital investment within Gwinnett, but over the long run I don't feel things would equal for the money put in.
I want to see a clear coherent plan that would outline where Gwinnett's revenue goes. What percentage is spent on operations for overlapping regional services. What percentage is spent on operations and development within Gwinnett. I also think we need to open ourselves to the idea that if Gwinnett were to pay 1% extra in sales tax we should be able to eventually afford the two recommended commuter rail lines and certain BRT services.
I guess the major point I am trying to make is if the Fulton and Dekalb cities are going to attack us for not being apart of the MARTA system, I feel they need to try harder to work out who pays for what and what services Gwinnett would get for that 1% in the long run.
It is hard to sell to 800,000 Gwinnettians to pay into a 1% sales tax and they only get a small single line of HRT that doesn't cover the whole county. It would be an easier sell to say within 25 years you would get a HRT/LRT corridor, two commuter lines, BRT busing in accordance with Concept 3, X% would be used to help fund overall -regional- operations, and Y% to be spent for the Gwinnett transit bus, but none would be used to pay for local bus service in Dekalb and Fulton and each county/service area should pay for their own local circulators through their own sales tax proceeds. (Fulton and Dekalb I think desires/needs a higher level of bussing, whereas Gwinnett and Cobb is more spread out/less dense and many parts of the county will be more drive two a commuter station)
So regional system, yes, but we also need to have an honest conversation about where the money goes. So far we have only been approached with an unsellable plan that is making most people more weary of joining MARTA rather than excited about MARTA.
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