By George Niemann

PoHo contributor

Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners:

It appears likely that you are going to ask us to approve a 1% sales tax increase in November of 2010 to fund a long range multi-modal transportation package which is highlighting the introduction of light rail to the Tampa Bay region.

At Wednesday’s Regular BOCC meeting it was revealed that, although the referendum’s top billing will be “light rail”, only 37% of the proposed tax will end up going toward an inter-city light rail system. The balance will go toward other forms of transportation, as well as, road improvements that are long overdue.

The big question is this – are you going to give voters all of the hard facts surrounding this proposed referendum? And will you incorporate this into your referendum campaign? I know that it will be tempting to take the soundbite approach without providing detail because, as you know, the devil is in the details. Considering that a good portion of this tax would be used to fix infrastructure problems that were created by approving sprawl, how do we know that you’ve learned your lesson? Or that you won’t come back to us 10 years from now and say we need an additional 1% on top of the first 1% because we couldn’t help ourselves from approving more sprawl without getting the money for the infrastructure?

I’d like to suggest an approach to you. Provide the hard facts proactively. It will not suffice to just pump out the soundbites (“A connected region for our future” or “a World Class Transportation Network”) and expect the voters to dig beneath the surface to learn the true costs and details. We need to have an honest dialogue about how a shortfall of $3B+ in funding for transportation was created. We also need a firm commitment from this BOCC that it will not happen again.

To make this referendum fully transparent, voters will need the following to be openly discussed as part of the message you give them:

• In practical terms, what does this 1% tax increase really mean to a Hillsborough family’s budget? The Transportation Task Force is saying that the new tax will mean an additional annual cost per family of approximately $140. You need to take a second look at those numbers. I think it will easily be between $200-$300 or higher.

• They need to be told when they can expect to see rail built in their area (20 years, 30 years?). Many voters may not even be alive when rail becomes available to them.

• If it is 20+ years, then they need to realize that they may be spending $4,000 before they ever set foot on a train. They need to realize that if they buy a new car every 5 years, they will be throwing in perhaps another $1,200 by the time they see that first train.

• Will the 1% tax pay for the complete light rail network that is being proposed? Commissioner Higginbotham seemed to think it would not. What is the total estimated cost of the proposed light rail? Is it true that taking a majority of the revenue and paying for road repairs will not leave enough to actually build the proposed rail system?

• They need to be told, up front, how the tax will be used, and that once the tax is approved it will, in all likelihood, never go away.

• They also need to be told that a portion of the tax (25%) will be used to fix some of the road problems, but that the decision as to which roads to fix and when to fix them will be up to the discretion of the BOCC, meaning that some people may never see their local road improved, even if they do vote to approve this tax. To display lists of potential road improvements implying that everyone will get something out of this new tax is deceptive and not the reality of what is going to happen if the tax is approved.

• They need to have an idea as to what the fares on a light rail might cost per trip, to go from say Plant City to downtown Tampa. That is something that helps them make up their minds. If it’s going to be $15 per round trip they might decide that they won’t be able to ride the rail on a daily basis. Once built, will it be subsidized like other cities have done? If so, how much? Are you going to raise or implement new tolls on roadways to help subsidize bus/rail transit, like many other cities end up doing?

• Do the voters know that in almost all cases transit fairs don’t even come close to keeping the transportation system running (typically transportation systems using bus and rail need a 50% subsidy to remain viable? You need to make them aware that additional taxes will be necessary to keep the system running once established.

• Auto users need to be made aware that their costs usually go up because typically they are forced to help subsidize bus/rail transit through increased road fees/tolls/gas taxes, whether they use bus/rail or not.

• They need to realize that government-run transportation systems, once created, never die, whether there are riders or not. And as ridership decreases, the subsidized cost borne by auto users tends to increase. And BTW, bus ridership is decreasing in Hillsborough.

• They should be made aware of the fact that buses and rail don’t eliminate road congestion. Charlotte NC Mayor Patrick McCrory gave that advice during a speech he gave to Hillsborough officials in a recent transportation forum sponsored by the Tampa Bay Partnership (a developer-backed front group).

• Most of all, voters need to be given a commitment that going forward, development will pay for itself and the board will exercise it’s power to impose impact fees and/or mobility fees so that new development will not result in an additional financial burden on us, as has been done in the past, and is still occurring today. They need to hear all of you speak the words of redemption, as Commissioner Sharpe has begun to do. Try reassuring voters by saying something like, “We screwed up by not enforcing concurrency and by not requiring budget neutral development in the past, but we’ve seen the light…so help me God, development will pay for itself!!!”

• Voters will need to understand that to make light rail viable, there must be high density in the areas that it serves. Transit hubs along with major routes will/must become much more urban. I hope you’re going to tell residents in those areas what they can expect before you ask them to approve this referendum. And while you plan to urbanize many sections, you will need to reassure us that you will curtail growth in suburban and rural areas that are not near transit hubs.

• Commissioners, you can no longer ask the public to subsidize growth, as most of you have in the past (Commissioner Norman, you have repeatedly asked for the county to waive all impact fees for developers). Because of all the mistakes of the past, you will have tell us on the record that you will make growth pay for itself in all future growth decisions.

Commissioners, take heed -we need transparency, all of the facts, and real commitments before this referendum stands even a chance of getting approval.

Sincerely,

George Niemann

A conerned citizen who wants accountable government

This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2009.