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California
SANDAG Postpones Decision on TransNet Funding Formula Change
Though the two primary train and bus operators in the San Diego region, North County Transit District and Metropolitan Transit System, had to raise fares and slash services after the losing millions in aid from the severely strained state budget, reports North County Times writer Dave Downey, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Board voted to wait for an April 24 staff report on other remedies rather than immediately commit itself to or against an increase of the transit share in the TransNet money allocation formula from 34 to 44 percent, with more than 30 speakers at its April 10 public meeting split on the change proposal advanced by Save Our Forest and Ranchland Chairman Duncan McFetridge.
''What did the voters vote for? Well, there it is, right there in the ballot language -- to relieve traffic congestion and improve safety,'' he pointed to the 2004-ballot film slide, stressing that's what trains and buses do.
Approved initially in 1988 for 20 years and extended by two-thirds of San Diego County voters in November 2004 till 2048, the writer notes, the half-cent TransNet sales tax is expected to raise $14 billion before it expires: 28 percent earmarked for local street and roads; 27 percent for highway construction; 34 percent for transit -- 24 percent for operations and 10 percent for construction; 6 percent for road-related environmental projects, 2 percent for bicycle lanes, 2 percent for ''smart growth'' projects, and the rest for administrative costs.
''We are only a year into a 40-year sales tax program, and we're already talking about changing the voter-approved distribution formula,'' wondered County Supervisor Dianne Jacobs, elected in unincorporated areas, arguing that transit ''already gets way more than its fair share of this pie'' since just 3.3 percent of county residents take trains or buses.
But her motion to reject any formula change lost to one offered by Solana Beach Councilwoman Lesa Heebner, who suggested the two-week postponement, stating, ''It deserves more than slamming one door quickly.''
Nevertheless, Board Member Mary Sessom thought it unlikely a formula change would get the necessary super-majority votes -- by 13 of the 19 agencies represented on the board and two-thirds of its weighted vote, based on the population of the member cities.
''It means San Diego officials, who have expressed support for shifting money away from highways,'' the writer observes, ''could not force a change by merely persuading a few cities to join them and build on their 40 percent weighted vote.'' -- North County Times 4/10/2009
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