WASHINGTON -- When Northern Virginia leaders attempted a regional tax increase referendum to fund transportation improvements in 2002, it hit several types of resistance.
Dave Robertson, of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said last week that there were some who did not trust how the money would be spent, others who did not like the transit/roads mix in the infrastructure package and “there was the no-tax-for-anybody crew in there.”
The crowd of about 100 political, business and community leaders visiting from the Atlanta region laughed knowingly.
The July 31 transportation referendum vote was a big topic for the Atlanta Regional Commission’s annual LINK trip, as ARC board members who attended are heavily promoting the 10-year, 1 percent sales tax, and the trip participants were a decidedly pro-referendum crowd. The trip is a chance for metro Atlanta leaders to learn from what other regions have done and to network with one another.
They got a cautionary tale from Washington region officials, both from the failed 2002 regional vote for a 0.5 percent sales tax and an unsuccessful effort this year by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to persuade his Legislature to increase the state’s gas tax.
Robertson’s advice to his Southern counterparts: “You’ve got to be crystal clear on what it’s going to fund, almost down to the intersection of First and Main,” he said in an interview. “People are going to have to be able to visualize what they’re going to get.”
After hearing from Robertson, ARC Chairman Tad Leithead said he plans to make the transportation referendum campaign less “esoteric.” Efforts to reach voters -- including a multimillion-dollar television and radio ad campaign -- depict the referendum as a way to solve gridlock and create jobs, but Leithead said the campaign needs more specifics.
“We need to say: ‘Is it hard for you to get through 285 and Ga. 400 at 8 o clock in the morning? Would you like to be able to take transit to the airport if you live in Gwinnett? Do you ever get frustrated by Spaghetti Junction? Does the Downtown Connector drive you crazy when you are trying to get to the Braves game?’ So people can say: ‘If I vote for this, this will happen to me.’”
Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson expressed his support for the project to the LINK attendees, but acknowledged its political peril.
"Hopefully we’re going to see some miracles with the T-SPLOST [transportation referendum] that takes place later this year," he said.
The tax is estimated to raise $6.14 billion over 10 years for transportation projects -- which local leaders selected last summer and fall from a much larger wish list -- in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties. Another $1 billion would be earmarked for counties and towns to spend on transportation.
The referendum’s proponents argue it is vital to relieve crippling traffic -- an area where Atlanta and Washington can commiserate -- and keep the region competitive with other major cities for new residents and businesses.
Its foes do not believe the rosy promises and worry about the loss of local autonomy.
Debbie Dooley, co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party, said there are too few projects actually aimed at reducing congestion, and it would open the door to taxes far beyond the 10-year plan.
“There has not been any government project that I am aware of that comes in at the cost they say it is going to come in as,” Dooley said, “and when they don’t have enough money, they are going to have to raise taxes again.”
Dooley also argued that it was unconstitutional for the Georgia Legislature to create a regional taxing authority. Again there are parallels with Northern Virginia: In 2008, its regional taxing authority was struck down by the state Supreme Court.
The Washington region has much different political dynamics from metro Atlanta as the Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia and federal governments all are deeply involved in big decisions, in addition to counties and municipalities.
None of them, it seems, will be pushing for new transportation taxes anytime soon.
“The appetite to try again, I don’t think it’s there,” said Bob Buchanan, president of the 2030 Group of Washington-area business leaders looking at long-term development for the region.
But the Washington area is still pushing big projects with different funding mechanisms. At a forum Friday morning in Tysons Corner, Va., Washington area officials discussed the public-private partnership to build new toll lanes on the Capital Beltway -- similar to Atlanta’s HOT lanes -- and an extension of Metrorail west to Dulles International Airport, which is being done in phases because of funding problems.
“They built out the original system ... and now they’re on the way out to Dulles,” said MARTA CEO Beverly Scott, who worked for the Washington Metro in the 1990s. “And the idea that we’re still at less than half of what the original vision was from 35 years ago for us, I think the lesson is the leadership, the perseverance to keep moving.”
And in the shadow of the Capitol, the fear of dwindling federal transportation resources was particularly resonant. Congress has reauthorized transportation funding in short-term bills since 2009, as Republicans are seeking deeper cuts in a long-term bill than Democrats will oblige.
The Georgia Department of Transportation is counting on supplemental federal funds to help complete many of the projects on the list that's tied to the referendum.
For Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who helped shape the project list, it makes the transportation referendum all the more urgent. He said the federal government should be chipping in another couple of billion dollars to the effort, but if Atlanta were to fund its own improvements, the region should get the first crack at additional federal aid when available.
“The federal policy also needs to change pretty significantly so communities that decide to step up and meet their responsibilities without federal help ought to move to the front of the line,” he said. “The metropolitan Atlanta region, if it decides to vote for the regional 1 percent [tax], should not be in the same position as the community sitting on its hands waiting for the federal government to solve their problems.”
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