Tuesday, January 09, 2007
KRM sales tax dead, but press on for trains
Just after they propose cutting the sales tax for the train and buses, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority has decided to scrap the plan for a one-half percent increase in sales taxes to pay for projects that are not needed.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority took a step back from a regional sales tax today, leaving questions about how a proposed commuter train line could be financed.
But the authority did ask the Legislature to put it in charge of running the KRM Commuter Link, a 33-mile train line that would connect Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and the southern suburbs with 14 round trips each weekday.
Members of the three-county authority decided today not to move forward from their preliminary vote to ask the Legislature to authorize a two-tiered 0.5% sales tax to build and operate the train line and to take public bus systems off the property tax.
In the original proposal, 0.05%, or 5 cents on a $100 purchase, would be used for the KRM Commuter Link, which would cost $237 million to build and $14.7 million a year to operate. Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties then could levy up to 0.45% more, or 45 cents on a $100 purchase, to replace levy support for the buses.
After the sales tax drew political opposition, however, the authority put that option on hold to explore other possibilities. Among those under discussion are using a portion of the 2-cent-a-gallon gas tax that now pays for cleaning up pollution caused by leaking underground fuel tanks, or structuring some sort of tax incremental financing district to take advantage of projected property value increases around train stations.
So a using a tax that pays for environmental protection and cleanup? This makes absolutely no sense. Either they plan on not cleaning up leaking gas tanks, or they plan on raising the tax, or both. So the idea is that we're going to raid that fund, to pay for something completely unrelated. Don't you just love big government?
The second idea is possibly an idea, a TIF. But once again, instead of collecting property taxes today, we'll collect them down the road--which doesn't pay for the project today. Sure, you can bond, but that will create more debt that will have to pay off.
Here is my plan if they really want these trains: If the business community really wants it, let them pay for it. They do all of the talking how it will bring substancial industry and revenue to the area. Put your money where your mouth is. Private enterprises, in partnership with municipalities, do work. Afterall, look at the telco's, the cable co's, and energy co's. They are raking in profits all while spending billions on infrastructure.
Labels: KRM, SE Wisconsin
