Language that Fulton commissioners opposed restored in MARTA bill

A House bill that would reshape MARTA's board of directors, amended by a Senate committee to soften opposition, has been restored to the form that upset Fulton County commissioners.

When the Senate approved House Bill 1052 late Monday, it brought back language that takes two of the County Commission's three board appointments and gives them to the north Fulton mayors. One of the DeKalb County Commission's four appointments also would go to that county's mayors.

The bill would also give MARTA an extra three years without the 50-50 mandate, which requires the agency to spend half its sales tax revenue on capital expenditures and half on operations. The exemption would last until 2016. MARTA wants the rule lifted permanently.