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Sales tax considered for transit in Triangle(Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 10--DURHAM -- A study group appointed by the leaders of the state House and Senate may ask legislators to give the Triangle and the Triad the same authority to levy a half-percent sales-tax surcharge for mass transit that Mecklenburg County already possesses. Supporters and General Assembly staff members have begun writing a bill that would implement the proposal. Triangle Transit Authority officials David King and Wib Gulley briefed local officials on the move Wednesday. They cautioned that the bill's provisions remain unsettled, and said officials have to monitor and shape its development. "I would characterize this piece of legislation as being still in the early innings of the game," said King, TTA's general manager. The draft would tie any use of the tax authority to the ability of officials in this area, Greensboro and Winston-Salem to develop financing, gain support from county governments and secure voter approval via referendum. Officials in Charlotte used their sales-tax surcharge to finance construction of a new commuter-rail line that opened late last year. Voters there approved the levy by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin in 1998, and reiterated support for it last year 70 percent to 30 percent. The draft bill is an outgrowth of the work being done by the "21st Century Transportation Committee" appointed last October by N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, and N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange. The group has yet to settle on its recommendations, but a subcommittee assigned to study rail options favors asking for the expansion of the sales-tax authority. Mecklenburg is the only county the General Assembly allows to levy a sales-tax surcharge to pay for transit. At least some officials in the Triangle have wanted the same power for a while now, to help pay for rail and bus links between Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill. The latest estimates suggest that building and operating an extensive regional transit network would consume $8.2 billion by 2035. Greensboro and Winston-Salem officials also are said to be interested in building a rail link between their cities. The still-being drafted bill would also give counties bordering the Triangle, the Triad and Charlotte the authority to levy quarter-percent sales-tax surcharges for transit, again with voter approval. Backers further want to standardize existing levies on vehicle registrations and car rentals that now vary by region. Their broader vision calls for the state to pick up a quarter of the bill for building regional transit systems in the three urban areas, an effort they think would cost about $2 billion over the next 12 years. Regions receiving state subsidies would have to match them. Local officials briefed Wednesday were interested but not willing to immediately jump on board. They fretted about what might happen here if officials in Wake, Durham and Orange counties can't agree on a single transit plan. It would be possible, under the provisions of the draft bill, for the two halves of the Triangle to go their separate ways. But officials aren't convinced that would fly with voters. A multibillion-dollar transit network is "going to be a very hard sell to voters in all three of these counties if it's not truly regional," Durham City Councilman Mike Woodard said after the briefing. Most of the discussion during the briefing focused on the possibility that officials in Wake County might go in a different direction. Wake is home to about 68 percent of the region's people, and its leaders might not like having sales-tax proceeds from their county spent elsewhere in the three-county region. At the very least, they'd oppose having it "spent in a way inconsistent" with their own vision of a transit system, King said. To see more of The Herald-Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald-sun.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |