| |
STATE |
CITY |
SUBJECT |
STATUS |
| 1 |
AR |
Jonesboro City |
The Jonesboro City Council voted to establish a transit agency,
the Jonesboro Economical Transportation System (JETS). The
system is established for three years after which voters will
decide whether to continue the service. |
November 2008*
|
| 2 |
AR |
Little Rock |
Officials are exploring ways to fund increased street car
service and other transit improvements, possibly with a dedicated
tax. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 3 |
AZ |
Flagstaff |
There are five propositions to improve the Mountain Line Bus System on the May 20th ballot.Voters will be able to choose to do any, all or none of the following:
a.Continue the existing .00175 tax for another 10 years; b. Establish a .0002 tax to upgrade the Hybrid Electric Fleet; c. Establish a .0002 tax to build a new Bus Rapid Transit route in the central business district; d. Establish a .0004 tax to expand coverage or e. Establish a .0004 tax to decrease headways.
http://www.mountainline2008vote.info |
May 20, 2008
Approved by
78% of voters |
| 4 |
AZ |
Statewide |
A coalition of Arizona business and political leaders, including Gov. Janet Napolitano, is preparing a 30-year, $42 billion statewide transportation plan that would be presented to voters on 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 roads and rail, with the highway and transit projects built during the next three decades. The coalition announced in the end of June that they had collected 250,000 signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. The deadline was July 3. |
November 2008 |
| 5 |
CA |
Statewide |
In 2002, voters passed a measure (Prop. 42) to dedicate gas tax funds to transportation. Proposition 91 was designed to close loopholes that the state was using to apply the funds to other purposes. In 2006, voters passed Propositions 1A and 1B, which closed the loopholes and created new transportation infrastructure funding. The original proponents of Prop 91 are telling voters to vote 'no', as the measure is now redundant and unnecessary. But Southern California Transit Advocates insist that the measure is still necessary and are encouraging voters to approve it. |
Feb. 5, 2008
Failed
43% to 57%
|
| 6 |
CA |
Statewide |
There will be a statewide ballot for a $10 billion bond proposal to provide initial financing for a $42 billion transit system that will enable a 220-m.p.h. bullet train to take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2.5 hours. If approved, the train would be in service in about a decade. |
November 2008 |
| 7 |
CA |
Alameda and Contra Costa Counties |
Property owners in Alameda and Contra Costa counties could vote to double their parcel tax to $96 a year to fund AC Transit bus service, under a proposal endorsed by the transit agency's governing board. The proposed tax increase, which voters could decide in November, was recommended by AC Transit administrators as an alternative to raising fares.
|
November 2008* |
| 8 |
CA |
Los Angeles County |
The business community and local political leaders are seriously considering placing a 1/4 cent sales tax increase on the November ballot to pay for more road and mass transit projects, including the beginning of the subway to the sea.A bill in the Legislature would have to pass to allow L.A. County to take the issue to voters this year. And a majority of the MTA board would have to approve the tax measure. |
November 2008* |
| 9 |
CA |
San Luis Obispo County |
First countywide attempt for transportation funding |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 10 |
CA |
Santa Barbara County |
In 1989, voters in Santa Barbara County approved a half-cent sales tax, known as Measure D, to support roads and transportation. In November 2006, a 30-year renewal of the tax, sold as the “train and lane” plan, failed at the ballot. The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is working on a proposal to bring a renewal of Measure D (called Measure A) to the ballot this November, before the current version expires in April 2010. |
November 2008* |
| 11 |
CA |
Santa Clara Valley |
A new law allows Valley Transportation Authority to place a one-eighth-cent sales tax on the ballot. Since the opposition of a June 2006 tax initiative, VTA has been eager to ask voters again for the funds to support the transit system, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) expansion. The transit district wil meet on August 7 to make a final decision. |
November 2008* |
| 12 |
CA |
Shasta County |
First countywide attempt for transportation funding |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 13 |
CA |
Sonoma and Marin Counties |
In November 2006, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit lost a sales tax measure to fund the 70-mile SMART passenger rail-and-trail project by slightly more than one percent. The proposal has been slightly modified and SMART is expected to try again this year. On July 16, county officials voted to place the quarter-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot. It 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. |
November 2008 |
| 14 |
CA |
Ventura County |
Ventura County supervisors may again ask voters for additional
transportation funding.
Transportation funding may be on the
ballot in Nov. 2008, but not likely. (No groundwork has been
laid) |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 15 |
CA |
Yolo County |
First countywide attempt for transportation funding |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 16 |
CO |
Aspen |
The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) is considering asking for a 0.4 percent sales tax increase on the November ballot to allow it to begin implementing bus rapid transit. Six municipalities (Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and New Castle) and two counties (Eagle and Pitkin) are in RFTA's jurisdiction. The increase could phase in nearly $62.5 million in capital improvements and boost operating revenues by about $37 million between 2009 and 2017. To help jump start the expansion of the bus system, RFTA will seek voter approval to issue $38 million in bonds. The sales tax hike and bonding issuance will be wrapped into one question for the November ballot. |
November 2008 |
| 17 |
CO |
Northern Colorado |
Voters in Weld and Larimer counties will likely be voting in November on a regional transportation authority that could levy up to a 1 percent sales tax. County officials are currently polling to determine whether voters favor a two-county RTA or an individual county approach. |
November 2008 |
| 18 |
FL |
Statewide |
Amendment 1 is proposal that was placed on the ballot
in October 2007 by the state legislature increases the state's
homestead exemption to $50,000 from $25,000. This will translate
into a tax break of about $240 year for the average homeowner. If
approved, this proposal is projected cut taxes by $9.3 billion
over the next five years which will result in reduced funding
for government services including transportation. |
Jan. 29, 2008
Approved
64% to 36% |
| 19 |
FL |
Lake County |
Lake County officials are considering adding an additional
nickel gas tax to help pay for a bus service for elderly, disabled
and low-income residents.
A task force was just formed November
2007, to discuss funding alternatives for transportation.
|
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 20 |
FL |
Martin County |
Martin County commissioners are considering a new tax to
keep public transit running after federal operating dollars
dry up next year. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 21 |
FL |
Orange County |
Orange County voters may get to decide this fall whether to impose a new 1-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to help pay for Central Florida's financially struggling bus system. The tax, if enacted, could raise nearly $6 million a year.
|
November 2008* |
| 22 |
FL |
Tampa |
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio is proposing a transit referendum to help
expand HARTline services throughout the region. |
No date set. Proposed dates for referendum
are between Nov. 2008 and 2010 |
| 23 |
GA |
Gwinnett County |
On July 15, there was a non-binding referendum on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The measure asked voters whether they would support an additional penny sales tax to extend the MARTA rail line into the county.
|
July 15, 2008
Voters Split
Republican Ballot 37%-63%
Democratic Ballot 70-30% |
| 24 |
HI |
Honolulu |
Mayor Mufi Hannemann wants to begin construction next year on a $3.7 billion, 20-mile elevated commuter rail line from east Kapolei to Ala Moana and complete the project by 2018. A nonprofit group, Stop Rail Now, launched a petition drive in April to put the rail issue on the November ballot. Although 40,000 signatures were collected, legal challenges prevented the referendum from officially qualifying. The Honolulu City Council recently voted unanimously to allow voters to decide whether to build a commuter rail system, but several hurdles remain before it can be placed on the ballot. |
November 2008* |
| 25 |
IN |
Indianapolis |
After shelving a food and beverage tax proposal to fund transit
in 2004, officials are looking for other options. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 26 |
KS |
Lawrence |
The T system's financial struggles have led Lawrence City Commissioners to discuss the need for a new sales tax if the public transit system is to continue. Commissioners are expressing interest in placing two separate sales tax questions on the November ballot: a 0.20 percent transit proposal and a 0.30 infrastructure sales tax. Both sales tax questions would be on the November general election ballot, and both would require a separate vote. |
November 2008* |
| 27 |
LA |
East Baton Rouge Parish |
The governing board of the Capital Area Transit System is
gearing up to ask East Baton Rouge Parish voters to approve
a proposed 20-year, 8.5-mill property tax in September to help
enhance local bus service. The proposed tax
would generate an estimated $19 million. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 28 |
MI |
Ann Arbor-Detroit |
Proposed commuter rail lines between Ann Arbor and Detroit
and Ann Arbor and Howell. Commuter rail studies are expected to wrap in April, at which time funding options will be discussed. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 29 |
MI |
Van Buren County |
The Van Buren Public Transit system has operated without
a dedicated funding source. The county board has recommended
a county levy of up to a quarter-mill. If passed, the levy
would raise an estimated $513,853 per year |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 30 |
MI |
Silver Lake |
The Village of Spring Lake has seen the costs of their local transportation service escalate dramatically in the past year and the Village Council is discussing putting the future of the transit service in the voter’s hands in November. The suggested ballot proposal would ask village voters if they're willing to pay a separate tax levy of up to 0.85 mill for the demand-response bus program in exchange for a general fund reduction of 0.72 mill. |
November 2008 |
| 31 |
MN |
Twin Cities |
A diverse coalition of health, faith, environmental and labor
groups have called for a half-cent Twin Cities sales tax to
produce $225 million a year in new funding for transit, pedestrian
and bikeway initiatives. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 32 |
MO |
Kansas City |
On April 8, voters will be asked to renew the three-eighth cent bus sales tax that is set to expire in April 2009. If voters approve ballot question # 1, the tax will be extended for fifteen years. Voters originally approved it in 2003. The future of this tax for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s buses has been uncertain since November 2006, when voters approved a plan that would take revenue from the tax and apply it to the development of light rail. |
April 8, 2008
Approved
65% to 35%
|
| 33 |
MO |
Kansas City |
In November of 2006, Kansas City voters approved a plan to bring light-rail to their city. A year later, the city council voted to overturn the results of the election on the grounds that the approved plan was underfunded and unfeasible. The council has promised to present a new plan to voters no later than November 2008. |
|
| 34 |
MO |
St. Joseph |
To avoid transit service reduction, the city council voted to place a measure to increase the city's sales tax on the primary ballot in February. The measure would increase the current sales tax of 0.15 percent to 0.44 percent. |
February 5, 2008
Approved by 70% |
| 35 |
MO |
St. Louis |
Proposition M asks voters to approve a half-cent increase in
the transit sales tax to support mass transit. The tax increase
would be applied in two parts; the first quarter-cent for
maintenance of the existing transit system, and the second
quarter-cent for expansion of the MetroLink system. |
St. Louis County officials considered a February vote but recently pushed that back until November. |
| 36 |
NM |
Albuquerque |
The City Council has approved a plan to ask voters to approve
$270 million in bonds to fund the Central Avenue streetcar
project. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 37 |
NM |
Santa Fe |
North Central Regional Transit District is looking to ask
the voters to approve a sales tax in November 2008. |
November 2008* |
| 38 |
NV |
Washoe County |
Commissioners voted to place two questions sought by the Regional Transportation Commission on the November ballot. 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. |
November 2008 |
| 39 |
OH |
Summit County |
If approved by voters, collection of the 0.25 percent sales tax would
begin July 1, and it is expected to generate $18 million, according
to transit officials. METRO officials said the revenue generated
by the sales tax is needed to address a $1.8 million deficit
projected for 2008 and a $1 million deficit in 2009 |
March 4, 2008
Approved by
52% of voters |
| 40 |
OH |
Columbus |
To improve transit service through implementation of the
COTA Long Range Transit Plan, officials are considering a dedicated
funding source. Light rail is one of several options under
consideration in the north corridor; the COTA Board has not
yet selected a locally preferred alternative. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 41 |
OH |
Mahoning County |
Mahoning County Commissioners unanimously approved Western Reserve Transit Authority's request to put a 0.25-percent sales tax on the ballot for countywide bus service. |
March 4, 2008
Failed
43% to 57%
|
| 42 |
OH |
Mahoning County |
The sales tax measure that failed in March will be back on the ballot in November. Without its approval the transportation system will likely shut down. 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. |
November 2008 |
| 43 |
OR |
Bend |
City councilors have unanimously agreed to send a property tax measure to the November ballot that would create a separately funded transit district to support Bend Area Transit (BAT). |
November 2008 |
| 44 |
OR |
Portland |
Metro is looking into putting a tax measure for roads and
transit on the November 2008 election ballot. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 45 |
OR |
Salem |
The city of Salem is expected to seek a $99.8 million transportation bond. Salem-Keizer Transit District is also considering property tax levies to support operations. These will be on the same ballot as a $242.2 million construction bond and coming not too long after this May's $92 million bond for construction at Chemeketa Community College. |
November 2008* |
| 46 |
PA |
Allegheny County |
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato says he will sign the referendum passed earlier this week by County Council that will give voters the choice in November to repeal the county's 10 percent drink tax and increase property taxes to pay for mass transit, even though he'd rather not have a referendum at all.
|
November 2008* |
| 47 |
RI |
Statewide |
|
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 48 |
SC |
Columbia |
Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority is considering
a 1 penny sales tax increase in Richland and Lexington Counties
to generate $100 million annually for the transit system, improvement
of road ways, green space and bike paths. RTA will keep .25
of each penny in order to operate and with the counties receiving
the remainder of the revenues.
|
On July 22, Richland County Council voted not to put referendum on Nov. Ballot |
| 49 |
TX |
Austin |
A transit task force organized by Austin Mayor Will Wynn and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board needs to analyze a recently announced proposal for a 14-mile light-rail system for Central Austin. If this process is completed in time, the light-rail proposal will be put before voters in November. Mayor Wynn has said he would like to have a rail vote this year, but there will be a number of complicated questions about costs and benefits. Voters would likely be voting to approve some sort of long-term debt. |
November 2008* |
| 50 |
TX |
Arlington |
The Regional Transit Initiative was conceived in 2004 to identify a feasible regional institutional structure for seamless public transportation in North Central Texas. It includes the counties of Tarrant, Ellis, Johnson and parts of Collin and Dallas, which are not included in DART. The plan calls for local-option elections to allow cities to decide if they want to add the sales tax and hook up to the new system. Approval by the state legislature is needed before these elections can go forward. |
Supporters say that the plan will be brought to the state legislature in 2009. |
| 51 |
TX |
Denton |
The Denton County Transportation Authority is working to
bring its regional passenger rail line to Denton as soon as
2010, three years earlier than projected. |
Project is slowly moving forward, still
on track for 2010, but funding options are not yet being
discussed publicly. |
| 52 |
TX |
Fort Bend |
Municipal officials in Fort Bend County have indicated they
will support a proposal to establish a rural transit district
in the county. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 53 |
WA |
Seattle |
Sound Transit is fast-tracking a possible route to the November ballot by showing transportation expansion plans to citizens this spring. Proposition 1, a 20-year "Roads & Transit" construction plan, was defeated last November. The new proposal has been stripped of all the roads and highway provisions and is much cheaper, costing around $17.8 billion and financed with an increase in sales taxes. 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. A final decision is expected to be made July 24. |
November 2008* |
| 54 |
WA |
Spokane |
Transit ridership in Spokane is up 10% from last year and 12% from the year before. On May 20, 2008, voters living within the Public Transportation Benefit Area were asked to vote on a reauthorization of the three-tenths of one percent sales tax for operations. Voters first approved the tax in 2004 and after the reauthorization the tax will be permanent. |
May 20, 2008
Approved
65% to 35% |
| 55 |
WI |
Milwaukee |
A Milwaukee County Board committee revived the idea of levying a half-cent local sales tax to pay for transit, after hearing appeals from major civic and business groups.The board's transportation committee voted 4-3 in favor of holding an advisory referendum on the sales tax idea on the November ballot. The tax would be dedicated to transit and generate an estimated $65 million a year.The issue goes to the full County Board on June 26. |
November 2008* |
| 56 |
WV |
Wheeling |
Ohio County Commissioners have introduced a resolution calling for the placement of the city of Wheeling’s bus levy on the county’s May 13 primary ballot. The OVRTA measure would ask voters to renew levies to be imposed on city residents to fund Wheeling’s share of Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority public transit service costs. The resolution has not been voted on yet. |
May 13, 2008
Approved
77% to 23% |
