CFTE Update for August 4,
2008
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Issue Archive
CFTE Update
August 4, 2008-Vol. 6, No.8
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In this issue ...
· Honolulu City Council Advanced Transit Measures
· Sound Transit 2
· 2008 Elections
· CFTE is Launching a New Blog Focused on Transit Ballot Initiatives
Honolulu City Council Advanced Transit Measures
TWO POTENTIAL PROPOSALS FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT
Last week a City Council committee advanced a proposed City Charter amendment to ask voters to approve mass transit. This is one of two potential transit proposals that could be on the November ballot in Honolulu.
The Honolulu city council is considering two transit-related charter amendments. One would ask voters in November whether the city shall "establish a steel wheel on steel rail transit system." The other asks voter whether the city should create a public transit authority. The proposed transit authority would oversee design, construction and operation of the $3.7 billion, 20-mile commuter rail, which would link East Kapolei to Ala Moana.
Though the Council's Executive Matters Committee unanimously advanced the charter proposal, it is split on another charter amendment to create a public transit authority to plan and run the system. That split threatens to fracture any agreement to put transit on the ballot. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann originally opposed having a separate proposal for voters to approve rail on the November ballot. However, Hannemann said he would support placing both questions before voters, depending on the wording of the amendments.
A final vote on the charter amendments is expected on Aug. 20. The mayor has 10 working days to veto charter amendments. If he does not veto, the amendment or amendments will be submitted to the city clerk to be put on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Sound Transit 2
TRANSIT ONLY PACKAGE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
In late July, Sound Transit board voted 16-2 in favor of a $17.9 billion plan to extend light-rail lines to Lynnwood, Redmond and Federal Way by 2023 and beef up regional bus service and Sounder commuter trains between Lakewood, Tacoma and Seattle.
Last November, voters in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties rejected Proposition 1, a $47 billion proposal that included billions of dollars of highway work in addition to a bus-and-rail expansion that would have brought light rail to Tacoma by 2028. Many opposed the measure believing that a higher share of funding should have been directed to increase public transit.
"We heeded the public's call to deliver a mass transit system that responds to high gas prices and rising congestion. This faster, better and cheaper plan will provide serious relief for our commuters," said Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. "It's the right plan for us, our kids and our planet."
The 15-year plan would pay for additional regional bus service from Lakewood and Tacoma to Sea-Tac Airport and Seattle and add four round-trip Sounder trains from Tacoma and Lakewood through the Puyallup and Green River valleys.
This transit-only package delivers projects significantly faster than last year's Proposition 1 measure. The construction costs are 50 percent lower than Proposition 1, which included both roads and transit projects, and 23 percent lower than the 20-year transit package that was part of Proposition 1.
The package's capital projects cost $13.5 billion in year-of-expenditure dollars that include inflation estimates. Adding operations, maintenance, reserves and debt service through 2023, the cost is $17.9 billion including inflation. Funding would come from a 0.5 percent increase of the local sales tax, or five cents on a $10 purchase. The approximately $69 annual cost of the increase for each adult is around the cost of a single tank of gas at current pump prices.
2008 Elections
UPDATE
Currently, CFTE is tracking ten transportation related ballot initiatives that have already qualified for November. More than a dozen others are being monitored but have yet to be formally placed on the ballot. The following measures have recently qualified:
Sonoma and Marin counties, CA--On July 16, county officials voted to place a quarter-cent sales tax measure to fund the 70-mile Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) passenger rail-and-trail project on the ballot. A similar measure first appeared on the ballot in November 2006, but it narrowly failed to be approved by a two-thirds majority, as required by the state. The sales tax would raise $890 million over 20 years, with annual revenues of about $45 million to pay for a train system running from Cloverdale to Larkspur that would cost $450 million to build and $19.3 million a year to operate.
Arizona, statewide--A 30-year, $42 billion statewide transportation plan, supported by a coalition of Arizona business and political leaders has qualified for the November ballot. Voters would be asked to raise the statewide sales tax by a penny for every dollar spent. The package will include a mix of highway and transit projects to be built over the next three decades.
Mahoning county, OH--A 0.25-percent sales tax for countywide bus service failed when it was on the ballot in March, but Mahoning County Commissioners have approved Western Reserve Transit Authority's request to put the measure back on the ballot this November. If the sales tax is approved, it would raise about $7 million annually for WRTA. The agency would then eliminate the Youngstown levies that currently fund the system. Without its approval the transportation system will likely shut down.
Washoe county, NV--A request from the Regional Transportation Commission to place two transportation funding questions on the November ballot has been approved. The questions would increase the sales tax by 1/8 of a cent and adjust gasoline and diesel taxes to help offset a multibillion-dollar shortfall for street repairs, highway and transit systems. The binding sales tax question would raise an estimated $280 million.
Seattle, WA--Last Thursday, Sound Transit board members voted to put a $22.8 billion rail plan on the November ballot. Last November, a 20-year "Roads & Transit" construction plan, was defeated due to high costs and the length of the project. The new proposal has been stripped of all the roads and highway provisions and is much cheaper. It promises fewer deliverables than last year's plan, but will included 34 additional miles of light rail, expanded bus service and it promises to make things happen in 15 years, not 20. If approved there will be a 0.5% increase in the sales tax to finance the 30-year construction bonds.
CFTE is Launching a New Blog Focused on Transit Ballot Initiatives
COMPETITION: NAME OUR BLOG AND WIN A FREE REGISTRATION TO TIC 2009
This September, CFTE plans to provide a new forum for analysis and discussion of the latest in transportation ballot initiative news. The only thing we need is a name! Readers of the CFTE Update are invited to submit their ideas to info@cfte.org by September 10, 2008. The winner of the blog naming competition will receive a free registration to the 2009 Transit Initiatives in Communities Conference!
Thanks for your interest in CFTE!
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