| |
STATE |
CITY |
QUICK FACTS |
SUBJECT |
STATUS |
| 1 |
AR |
Jonesboro |
Amount of funding at stake: $130,000 annually |
The Jonesboro City Council voted to establish a transit agency,
the Jonesboro Economical Transportation System (JETS), in 2005. The
city agreed to fund the program for five years, but after three years it is up to the voters to
decide whether to continue the service. If the ballot initiative fails, the system will begin to be phased out in 2009, unless another funding source is identified. |
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 |
Type: Sales tax
|
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 |
Type: Bond
Amount of funding at stake: $42 billion over 30 years |
A coalition of Arizona business and political leaders, including Gov. Janet Napolitano, prepared a 30-year, $42 billion statewide transportation plan to 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 includes a mix of roads and rail projects to be built over 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. |
Will not be on the November ballot.
The initiative campaign did not collect enough valid signatures and a lawsuit challenging that finding was filed too late according to a Maricopa County Superior Court judge. |
| 5 |
CA |
Statewide |
Type: Gas tax |
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 |
Type: Bond
Amount of funding at stake: $9.9 billion |
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 |
Type: Property tax |
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 |
Type: Sales tax |
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 |
Type: Sales tax
Ballot History: Renewal measure |
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 |
Type: Sales tax |
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 |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake: $45 million annually over 20 years |
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 |
Type: Sales tax
|
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 |
Type: Sales tax |
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 |
Type: Property tax |
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 |
Type: Gas tax |
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 |
Type: Gas tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $6 million annually |
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. |
Referendum likely to be on 2010 ballot. |
| 23 |
GA |
Gwinnett County |
Type: Sales tax |
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 |
Type: Sales tax |
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 |
Type: Property tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $19 million |
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 |
Genesee County |
Type: Property tax
Ballot History: Renewal measure
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $4 million annually |
An official for the Mass Transportation Authority says a renewal of a 0.4 mills property tax will allow the agency to maintain current services countywide. But without continuation of the property tax, the MTA would have no choice but to make cuts in services. The countywide millage has been in place since voters approved it in 1994.
|
August 5, 2008
Approved
69% to 31% |
| 30 |
MI |
Kalamazoo County |
Type: Property tax |
The Kalamazoo County Transportation Authority is seeking a millage to pay for transit services for the next four years .If voters approve the tax, the authority will levy 0.63 mills in 2008, gradually increasing the tax rate each year up to 0.86 mills by 2011. The first year of the new tax rate is expected to generate $5 million. The transportation millage would replace two expiring taxes: 1.38 mill for Kalamazoo city taxpayers and 0.38 mill for the rest of Kalamazoo County. |
November 2008 |
| 31 |
MI |
Roscommon County |
Type: Property tax
Ballot History: Renewal measure |
On August 5, voters will decide the fate of three countywide services including public transportation. The measure asks residents to renew the county's 0.5-mill expired transportation authority funding. Millage rollbacks have reduced the transit system's millage rate to 0.47 mills in recent years. If approved, this measure would restore the 0.5-mill levy that voters already approved. |
August 5, 2008
Approved
60% to 40% |
| 32 |
MI |
Silver Lake |
Type: Property tax |
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 |
| 33 |
MI |
Van Buren County |
Type: Property tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $513,853 |
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 |
| 34 |
MN |
Twin Cities |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $225 million a year |
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 |
| 35 |
MO |
Kansas City |
Type: Sales tax
Ballot History: Renewal measure |
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%
|
| 36 |
MO |
Kansas City |
Type: Sales tax |
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. This November
voters will be presented with a measure for a 25 year, 3/8-cent sales tax increase to fund a 14-mile light rail starter route. The total cost of for the starter route is projected at $815 million. |
|
| 37 |
MO |
St. Joseph |
Type: Sales tax |
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% |
| 38 |
MO |
St. Louis |
Type: Sales tax |
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. |
November 2008* |
| 39 |
NM |
Albuquerque |
Type: Bonds
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $270 million
|
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 |
| 40 |
NM |
Santa Fe |
Type: Sales tax |
North Central Regional Transit District is looking to ask
the voters to approve a sales tax in November 2008. |
November 2008* |
| 41 |
NV |
Washoe County |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $280 million annually |
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 |
| 42 |
OH |
Summit County |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $18 million |
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 |
| 43 |
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 |
| 44 |
OH |
Mahoning County |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $7 million annually |
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%
|
| 45 |
OH |
Mahoning County |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $7 million annually |
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 |
| 46 |
OR |
Bend |
Type: Property tax
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $1.4 million annually (est.) |
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). The proposed property tax rate would be $0.393 per $1,000 assessed property value. |
November 2008 |
| 47 |
OR |
Portland |
|
Metro is looking into putting a tax measure for roads and
transit on the November 2008 election ballot. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 48 |
OR |
Salem |
Type: Bond
Amount of funding at stake on the ballot: $99.8 million |
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* |
| 49 |
PA |
Allegheny County |
Amount of funding at stake on the ballot: $44 million annually (est.) |
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. The tax revenue is needed to fund the county's $30 million annual Port Authority subsidy.
|
November 2008 |
| 50 |
RI |
Statewide |
|
|
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 51 |
SC |
Columbia |
Type: Sales tax |
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 the remainder of the revenues would be returned to the counties.
|
On July 22, Richland County Council voted not to put referendum on Nov. Ballot |
| 52 |
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* |
| 53 |
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. |
| 54 |
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. The project is slowly moving forward, still
on track for 2010, but funding options are not yet being
discussed publicly. |
MONITOR PROGRESS |
| 55 |
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 |
| 56 |
WA |
Seattle |
Type: Sales tax
Ballot History: 2nd attempt at the ballot box
Amount of funding at stake on ballot: $17.8 billion over 20 years |
In November 2008, voters defeated Proposition 1, a 20-year "Roads & Transit" construction plan. Sound Transit has fast-tracked a new proposal that is stripped of all the road 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* |
| 57 |
WA |
Spokane |
Type: Sales tax
Ballot History: Renewal measure |
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% |
| 58 |
WI |
Milwaukee |
Type: Sales tax
Amount of funding at stake on the ballot: $65 million annually |
A Milwaukee County Board have proposed 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. |
November 2008* |
| 59 |
WV |
Wheeling |
Type: Property tax |
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 measure would ask voters to renew levies to be imposed on city residents to fund Wheeling’s share of Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority (OVRTA) public transit service costs. |
May 13, 2008
Approved
77% to 23% |
