Clayton County to poll interest in MARTA

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Clayton County citizens are slated to take a non-binding vote this summer on whether or not the county should join MARTA. It will gauge the county population’s interest in funding mass transit, before a real vote.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has signed House Bill 1446, calling for what is essentially a poll in the county, to be held on the same ballot as the general primary, on July 20.

Another bill that Perdue has not yet signed, HB 277, contains a provision that would allow a separate vote where the county could levy a sales tax on itself to fund mass transit.  HB 277 would make that possible by raising the sales tax cap, so it theoretically could apply to Cobb and Gwinnett counties, too, according to Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit.

Clayton County’s bus service, C-Tran, shut down on March 31 after the county commission said it couldn’t afford it.