Is the Atlanta’s Transportation Referendum Already Doomed?
Decatur Metro | September 15, 2010The already tough job of convincing Atlanta’s outer metro counties of supporting a 1-cent sales tax to support transportation projects just got harder, if not damn near impossible.
From the SaportaReport…
In a media advisory that I just received, it states that the “Fulton County Mayors from the north to the southern end of the county, have banded together to express their opposition to a proposed one-penny sales tax for transportation that voters in the metro region will have the option of approving under House Bill 277.
The biggest reason for their opposition? Fulton County already is paying a penny sales tax to support MARTA. Their concern is that if the tax passes, Fulton County would be paying two cents for transportation with no assurance from the rest of the region that it would support metro Atlanta’s largest transit system.
DeKalb’s mayors, including Decatur’s Bill Floyd, have yet to take a formal position on a potential second penny sales tax that would support metro transportation projects.
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Guess they don’t want to get their two cents in (cue rimshot).
Look, no one should be coming out against the tax at this point. The focus should be on identifying great projects worthy of an increased tax. The right projects may almost sell themselves. Plus, the municipal leaders will fall in line as the log roll. So, the media need to start identifying prospective projects and writing solid cost-benefit articles about them. It should educate the public on pros and cons of potential projects, not feed the tax-no tax “debate.”