Morning Metro: Power Outage, T-SPLOST Infographic, and Shared Backyards
Decatur Metro | June 14, 2012
- Coverage of yesterday’s tree falling and power outage [Fox5]
- Decatur’s “finances in order” [Neighbor]
- Vernon Jones fighting grand jury subpoena [AJC]
- Rails to rail: an T-SPLOST infographic [CL]
- Retrofitting Suburbia series coming to PBS [ATLUrbanist]
- The Shared Backyard [WSJ]
Latest from Decaturish
Is that fancy graphic supposed to encourage me to vote yes? Everyone I have spoken to about this tax that was on the fence (self-included) is now a no. They probably should have waited until next year to vote on this. Between the tax chaos with Dekalb assessments, and the gross mismanagement of the school system financials, which will surely have an effect on taxes by next year at the latest, the timing for asking for money is way off. Especially on the heels of finding out the toll booths are not coming down. Nothing ever goes down…
Can you list your main reasons why you’re voting no?
I can.
Projects are not strictly transportation and include Beltline, airport improvements, and a huge slush type fund for each government agency to spend how it sees fit.
The GA government is full of corruption and mis-management. I wouldn’t let them babysit my dog. The DOT is especially inept and wasteful.
Transit and MARTA still get the short, dirty end of the stick in funding.
Sales tax is regressive and particularly hurts poor people who spend more of their money on necessities like food.
And, finally, don’t move 2 hours away from your job and then complain that it takes 2 hours to get to work!
“And, finally, don’t move 2 hours away from your job and then complain that it takes 2 hours to get to work!” — It’s not that simple for a lot of people. Many can’t afford to live close to where they work. Many have been forced to change jobs and had to take what they could find, regardless of location, and unable to move because their home value has declined. Many households have two wage earners that work far apart, and have to choose one long or two medium commutes.
Getting the short, dirty end of the stick is better than getting left out altogether. That’s the choice, and it’s a simple one.
“Getting the short, dirty end of the stick is better than getting left out altogether.”
This is simply untrue. The short end of the stick comes with a huge liability (billions of additional dollars being taken as a tax). IF the costs of the short end of the stick greatly exceed the benefits, being left out is much better than the short end.
For the record, I am still undecided about the T-Splost (although leaning towards a “Yes” vote), and I am not arguing the many valid points on both sides. What I am saying is that noone should decide this issue based on such a gross over-generalization, especially one that is fundamentally unsound and incorrect.
Regarding 2 hour commutes, you are both right. Many people make the choice to live 2 hours from work, and it should be there problem. But there are also a whole lot of people doing the best they can given their circumstances who do not make such a choice.
You are engaging in sophistry.
I think that is going to be my new tattoo.
Sure. Check out Appendix A
http://www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com/documents/final_report.pdf.
Look at the hundreds of millions/billions of dollars of vague “improvements” on intersections, parks, paths, etc… 1.) I’m already paying taxes for these things. 2.) The things in this project are not critical to the overall goal of better transportation.
I agree we have to look at transportation long-term, and it’s going to require a hefty investment up front. But I just don’t see this black hole of billions doing anything meaningful to remedy the transportation problems we have.
This smorgasbord of pet-projects lacks any coherency and I’m not clear on how spending millions on sprucing up parks does anything to the long-term goal of easing congestion, and that’s what these billions are supposed to be about. It does however look like an awesome windfall for construction companies, contractors and road builders. No accountability for hundreds of millions, sweet!
Rail for South Dekalb would be great, but billions for it when Marta has already said they will still be billions in debt, even with the SPLOST money? It’s irresponsible to throw another project for them to maintain, when they can’t maintain what’s on their plate presently. Yes, I know the legislature is screwing Marta, and that absolutely needs to be addressed, but it’s not doing them any favors to give them more until they get their finances straight.
Light rail for the Clifton area (this is my fav.), again, it’s just not critical. Traffic is a mess over that way no doubt. I would love for light rail to come to fruition there, I just don’t feel the expense is worth it right now.
I think that mostly covers it.
I’m not psychic but I have a sneaking suspicion you think I would say no to any new tax. While it’s true, I totally regret voting for E-SPLOST, if I felt the tax were worth it, I would vote yes. But I don’t think anyone could look at that list above, and not see that much of that list has nothing to do with easing congestion.
Actually, I didn’t think that at all. I’m still just trying to get my head around the pro-transit/anti-TSPLOST argument. Does efficient government exist anywhere? Do we make due with what’s in front of us or do we go to a “Plan B” that I just don’t see?
Pieces of a plan this large are always going to be messed up. Maybe half the things on this list improve our transportation situation. Is that a good %? What’s the benchmark? If Seattle is the example of what we need to do, how realistic is it to believe that Atlanta will approve something like that?
A fine summary. I would add that many, if not most, of the projects listed in Appendix A are so vaguely described that it is nearly impossible to determine what they propose to do and why. And with the sheer number of the proposed projects, it seems impossible for anyone to cast a “yes” vote on TSPLOST while knowing exaclty what projects are being authorized, why they are projected to cost so much, and why we need to complete them.
Then you have the revenue and cost projections themselves. The document doesn’t even specify the assumptions that went into their base revenue case. That is a big red flag. The cost projections are almost certainly too low, because transportation estimates are always too low. This begs the question, what happens when the revenues don’t cover the projects? Get ready for TSPLOST II?
ESPLOST is our precedent and it is a poster child for awful government. It is an orgy of questionable projects (at best), and a graft fest at worst. Not to mention, its beneficiaries have absolutely no intention of ending it. We are on ESPLOST IV. Does anyone really think there won’t be a major push for TSPLOST II?
Major capital spending projects should be considered and debated individually, not as a group so large that no one can understand what they’re even voting for. TSPLOST is an ill-conceived approach that is all but designed to minimize accountability and maximize waste. Government by its nature is not very efficient, but government of the TSPLOST nature is the worse version of government. It also plays on the votes in the worst way, by incentivizing them to vote for the whole when they really favor but a small piece. Like the beltline? Well then you have to vote for roads in outlying counties, too. This is barely concealed voter bribery.
Thanks DEM, and DM, all fair questions.
At least at some point in the future, there could be a Plan B. If this passes, and $10 billion dollars worth of random projects does nothing for congestion, there will be absolutely no second shot. I can’t get behind a plan whose theme seems to be, “let’s throw gobs of billions at an unfocused mishmash of projects, and hope something good pans out.” The -we may never have another shot- argument isn’t convincing enough to make me believe that raising taxes and blowing billions is a good idea.
I’m not sure how spending $3.5 million at McCollum airport in Cobb on a control tower and runway lighting, is supposed to relieve congestion. The fact that something like that even made it through, illustrates this is a pet-project list more than getting serious about relieving congestion. Now how many more billions in projects like this one, are tucked in there under the vague description of “improvements?”
We know we have a problem, but we need a focused and coherent solution. This isn’t it.
Under what circumstances — politically speaking — would we be able to address regional infrastructure in a way that didn’t emerge from a pet-project list? Based on our leadership under the dome, competition between municipalities and their respective counties and between munis and each other, the relationship between Atlanta and the rest of the state, and the culture of ATL vs. ‘burbs, I can’t envision any other way such issues could realistically be addressed (in this context) on a regional basis.
Politically speaking, yes, we have a problem. But I’m still not prepared to say that wasting $7 billion on unnecessary pet-project items, to get $3 billion in things that are legit, is a good idea. Wasteful spending is still wasteful, even if we get a few cool things out of it for ourselves. I’m starting to sense the feeling here is that doing something, anything, is better than doing nothing. But considering the ginormous cost, and that it won’t do anything to provide a meaningful solution, I don’t believe that’s true.
We need THOUGHTFUL, long-term planning, ideas that are cutting edge, and unfortunately maybe we can’t get that with the “leadership” we have right now. Perhaps the best and brightest in transportation planning haven’t arrived on our scene yet, or the legislature back-scratching mentality is holding cost effective solutions up. It’s an issue, not a dead-end. There are examples of things getting done and we should be looking at them for a blueprint. Look at the PATHS, and the Beltline project. They’re the result of dedicated advocates, working on specific projects, to see them come to fruition.
With all the bright minds, money, and powerful connections between Emory and the CDC, I’m certain they could come up with something similar to the Beltline. It won’t be easy, it will be expensive, but if the will is there, they can do it. And Marta has to get their funding situation sorted out with the legislature, before they can ever begin to dig out of the hole they’re in. That’s something they need to devote every resource they have to. They give the impression that they are sloppy, and perhaps they need more “professional” help to deal with legislators. All of the project items need to be addressed individually on their own merits, and yes, it will be a tedious battle.
One last thing to consider- “Just a penny” Over the course of 10 years, this could be an additional $10-20k out of a household budget, on top of all the taxes we’re already forking over, for transportation. If I give them another $15k from my checking account to help with their haphazard plan, is it going to do anything to relieve congestion? And if not, why I am giving to them? It’s a drop in the bucket to them, but to me it’s a chunk, and I hate wasting my money.
So the extra thousands in taxes that will leave your household budget will also be helping to provide a billion bucks, for a zero accountability slush fund, unrelated to transportation.
Public ‘in the dark’ on T-SPLOST $1B
http://www.ajc.com/news/transportation-referendum/public-in-the-dark-1459227.html
If the T-splost doesn’t pass, I understand rail infrastructure will be abandoned, but the DOT will still fund the road projects.
-A no vote means more roads for the region.
-A yes vote means more roads, but also more rail, buses, and bike lanes.
I was on the fence and now am firmly in the pro-TSPLOST camp. This is our best pragmatic option for more rail and bike options. Do I like the road expansions? No. But there is no way TSPLOST would have a shot in hell if the road projects weren’t included. Like it or not, GA is a diverse state with a diverse population with diverse transportation priorities. Failure to accept that and vote yes allows extremes on the far right and left to crowd out the middle, most of whom who benefit greatly from TSPLOST.
I’m still on the fence about Tsplost. I don’t like that it raises taxes especially when we need to be lowering or (in the case of the income tax and the IRS) abolishing taxes. I think if the state of GA would free all the non-violent drug “offenders” in the state (which costs the taxpayers 45,000 per yer per prisoner to feed, house and cloth) maybe we could get the millions from there to improve transportation. Let those prisoners go and speak with church leaders and mentors instead of them sitting in jail and learning how to become better more dangerous criminals.
I understand that a lot of folks that are pro-transit are upset at the amount of road expenditures in the project but a good number of the projects reflect long term maintenance costs and improvements that are likely needed anyway, so voting against this is unlikely to prevent money from somewhere from getting spent. On the other hand, the money for alternative transit infrastructure is unlikely to be found elsewhere so a vote No is likely a vote against alternative transit.
As to our overall tax burden, GA is ranked 35 (out of 50 of course) for tax on income, and 34 overall for government spending per capita. I think that we’re a fairly lightly taxed state overall (and I do live in Decatur). I would trade a somewhat higher tax rate for generally better infrastructure.
Certainly some of the money will be used inefficiently or wasted, but I’m not prepared to wait for that magical period when waste and inefficiency is eliminated before spending on many of these projects.
I think my biggest complaint is that given the current global economic situation, the Federal government can borrow money at negative interest rates. There’s been such a flight to security, given the demand for US bonds, much of these projects would be better funded as true debt financed projects at the federal level. Levying the tax to pay for the projects does not have the same stimulus effect. But nothing is perfect.
Georgia spends less per capita on transportation than every other state except Tn.
We pay the lowest gasoline tax in the country.
Commutes in metro Atl are longer than every other city except NY, Chi & DC.
The region is going to spend more than $650 million on essential Marta renovations.
New business is not going to locate here until we deal with transportation.
Why do you have any faith that this massive pot of money will be spent where it is intended? The state takes fees for tire disposal, victim restitution fees, driver training fees, spay and neuter tag fees, and part of the existing gas tax and puts that money in the general fund where it is frittered away on pet projects. Go Fish, anybody? Runway lights for a rich man’s toys airport?
You don’t combat waste and corruption by handing the bandits more money.
+1. VOTE NO, do not give the incompetent government more of your money.
What was the most recent competent government?
I don’t disagree, and honestly government waste/corruption is my biggest problem with T-SPLOST. But, if you take that argument to its logical conclusion, you would have to advocate anarchy. No taxes for anything b/c the government can’t be trusted with it. If we can’t trust the government with this money, why trust them with any at all?
However, on the other side of the coin, as cynical as it is, we can accept a certain level of waste (i.e. the current level), and refuse to give elected officials more money to waste or plunder. A “no” vote imposes a limit. As you can tell, I am still on the fence.
You know who used to keep a very close eye on government waste? Journalists, specifically newspaper reporters. And now, since few people subscribe, and Craigs List undercut classifieds, there are far fewer of them out there.
What I fantasize about is some big grant for unemployed reporters that would give them carte blanche to investigate government corruption and waste. But folks on the right would diss it as too liberal if they were critical of conservative programs, and folks on the left would howl if they dissed liberal programs. And auditors could be paid to do the very same thing.
As a society, we’re much poorer without journalists, I think. I cringe at the tradition-ripping bloodbath in New Orleans. Journalists can’t work for free, unless they’re independently wealthy.
I agree. I still subscribe even though the paper gets thinner and thinner. I miss the investigative reporting. I still don’t understand how anyone reads the funnies or does the crossword or Jumble or Sudoku without the hardcopy. I am a newspaper junkie dinosaur.
http://jumble.com/games/info/13
Since you seem like a frugal, deliberate person who does not adopt new fads indiscriminately, the fact that you advise e-readers and e-Jumbles is discouraging me. I am evidently going to soon be the last person on earth reading the hardcopy paper and doing the crossword in pencil. My only solace left is that when I drop my newspaper in my bathwater, I am only losing $.75 worth of equipment.
I haven’t gone over completely yet. Still have NYT delivered on Sunday only (takes me nearly the whole next week to get through it all and still have a small backlog of Book Review sections at any given time).But that subscription entitles me to full online access, so read it online Mon-Sat (and do the crossword) and avoid so much paper stacking up. Plus, if I’m caught waiting somewhere, can glance at the paper on my phone. Still read The Atlantic and New Yorker in print, like the change after looking at a screen through the work day, and they are not cumbersome like books. I read books on Kindle now, for convenience, portability, etc. These choices don’t need to be all-or-nothing, you can pick and choose and adopt and adapt as it suits you.
Ditto. I also get the Sunday Times only, especially since it’s cheaper than just the digital subscription, and use it just like you described. I cancelled my long-time Atlantic subscription a year or so ago, but am thinking of getting it back, because it’s just not the same reading things off the website.
I’ve never been able to get into the New Yorker. Have tried a few times.
I subscribed to The Atlantic for about 30 years, then finally let it go as an economy measure, but missed it terribly and after a couple of years they got me back with deeply discounted rate. Got a year of the New Yorker as a birthday present and have really enjoyed it, although I am a few weeks behind right now.
Yeah, my other issue (hee) with the New Yorker is the fact that it can bury you with unread issues. You want to read a book? Too bad! There are four New Yorkers sitting on your nightstand that threaten to take over the entire bedroom unless you get crackin’!
I still like the paper newspaper best too, though it’s been sad to see the AJC get thinner and thinner. But they are the best source for local news. And I can’t crumple up my ipad or laptop and stick it in wet sneakers.
I would just like to note since the common contrast with ‘government waste’ is ‘private sector efficiency’ that more often then not, we end up with ‘private sector rent seeking’ instead.
So, perhaps it is a matter of picking your poison. I’ll choose gov’t waste over private sector rent seeking on most days of the week.
A lot of studies of privatization have come out over the last decade that indicate that the only place the private sector can compete with the efficiency of government in terms of delivery of services is trash collection. There is no empirical study that currently exists that shows that privatization eliminates waste. In fact, there are indicators that seem to point to the inescapable fact that transaction costs alone might limit the advantage of private service delivery.
This does not surprise me. Similarly, state and federal government moved toward contracting out a lot of positions that were formerly FTE positions. The contract costs are huge and go way beyond the cost of salary, benefits, and retirement fund contributions for FTEs. There’s overhead/indirect costs that are huge. Someone is making out like a bandit and it’s not the contract employee or the government.
Do those studies compare the US Postal service — going bankrupt at an epic rate — with UPS and Fed Ex, which deliver packages with incredible efficiency and manage to make profits while doing it? Do they measure the efficiency of Paideia vs. DeKalb County Schools? I wonder who would win that one.
I haven’t read the studies to which you refer, but I am curious as to how anyone can conclude that the public sector has systematic efficiency advantages when the federal government cannot even be audited and lacks the kinds of basic financial controls that public companies are required to have. Two quick examples:
http://www.govexec.com/management/2006/12/government-fails-10th-consecutive-audit/23351/.
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120206/AGENCY05/202060306
Even specific cabinet departments at the federal level have controls so lax — or in some cases, entirely non-existent — that they can’t get clean audit opinions. If the government can’t roll up its expenses into reliable financial statements, how is it even possible to measure its efficiency?
Moreover, of course the private sector cannot eliminate waste. No one claims that it can.
Pretty good point, Glock. Did you see this?
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/06/when-privatization-doesnt-work.html
Pretty good article questioning the premise that the private sector can always do things better/more efficiently than the government…
I don’t think the argument is that the private sector can ALWAYS operate better or more efficiently. In fact, there are areas which are best left to the public sector. However, given the current state of affairs, the one thing the privact sector has that the public sector currently lacks is accountability. The private sector is accountable to shareholders, investors, etc. (or if a one man operation, your need to make a profit makes you accountable for your spending). But,
the crooks in office just keep getting re-elected (or replaced with another crook), so there is no accountability from the voters, and they never get prosecuted for their crimes.
Sorry, Dawg– I disagree. The Wall Street/financial sector fiasco that tumbled the US into the recession is but the most salient example of the lack of true accountability in the private sector.
+1
Many businesses have bureaucracies and individuals who feel entitled to large salaries without commensurate skill and effort, just like some of the local governments (not City of Decatur) that we know and love.
The reason for any lack of accountability there is not the private sector but government, which stepped in to bail out the very companies that had operated with excessive levels of risk. Had TARP never happened, some banks would have persevered, while others would have failed, sticking those officers and directors with job losses and wiping out the common shareholders. Thus the people who should have borne the losses would have. It was government that prevented that, not the private sector.
Accountability much earlier would have been preferable! Waiting until things completely fall apart with negative fallout throughout the nation and the world is not an ideal approach either. Hence safeguards, regulations, oversight, IMHO. None of those protective measures are perfect but an absolute market is a severe way to implement checks and balances.
If only humans policed themselves and behaved ethically and wisely at all times……..we wouldn’t need government. But until bioengineering is more advanced, a healthy dose of both government and the marketplace seems to be the tried and true path. The exact dosing is always up for debate.
We are now learning that the new nuclear power plants already face 1 billion dollars in cost overruns. That really shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Huge cost overrides are bound to be part of TSPLOST projects too. What happens then? Who makes up the difference? Will projects be cancelled? What happens if matching federal funds don’t materialize?
Why are gasoline purchases exempt from the TSPLOST tax? Why did the governor cancel a small increase in the gas tax?
Will the projects chosen do anything to relieve congestion?
Too many questions for me, I’m voting no.
Did you know that the State Constitution prohibits any of the gas tax revenues from being spent on mass/alternative transit? it all has to go towards roads. So until the constitution is changed, TSLPOST is the only game in town for mass transit for years to come (it took years to get the TSPLOST proposal to this point).
Yes I did know that about the gas tax.
I also know that the state of Georgia diverts 35% of all metro-Atlanta generated gas tax revenue to other parts of the state.
I already pay 1% sales tax for mass transit. When the state changes how they do business with my tax dollars I will support another tax, not the other way around.
Another uncertainty is whether federal funds will be made available to match funds generated by this local tax.
As far as improving pedestrian and bike access, important as it is, these do not require additional funding. What is needed is motivated users, not likely in the coddled, air-conditioned environment most Atlantans enjoy.
I agree Atlantans like their AC, but there’s also a lot of cyclists who “retire” after being hit by cars. Even if the accident doesn’t kill you, you may be left with lots of long-term health issues never mind your family screaming at you to stop risking your life, etc. I hear this over and over; someone notices my helmet, mumbles something about how “I used to commute until I got hit.” And those people typically discourage others from riding. Getting hurt, really hurt, changes perspectives. Not everyone turns activist or gets back on the saddle. They just get in their cars and say f- that noise, it’s just not worth it.
Also, how do you figure that pedestrian/cycling improvements don’t require additional funding? Sidewalks get expensive pretty quickly, many roads simply don’t have room for a dedicated bike lane (4′ wide with gutter/curb space excluded, per GDOT; car gets 11′ wide lane) and literally would need to be widened. Whether you add a bike lane and a sidewalk, or some PATH-like shared pedestrian/bike lane, there’s digging and finding space (eminent domain on someone’s yard? narrower/fewer car lanes?–>see this article on costs for such projects in Dunwoody on this week’s AJC: http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bike-lanes-spark-dissent-1457425.html Notice cost).
See http://www.dot.ga.gov/doingbusiness/PoliciesManuals/roads/DesignPolicy/GDOT-DPM-Chap06.pdf and scroll down to page 6-20 and on for best practices wrt spacing for safe sharing by motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
Interesting. I have never heard this lament. It’s usually drivers prefacing their lectures by stating, “I’m a cyclist, too.”
Additional in the sense that another 1% sales tax (T-Splost) is needed to fund them. The article referenced shows that forward-looking cities are making progress without it.
Thanks for the links.
I’ve heard it from 2 guys this year. Maybe it’s a fluke. But let me put it this way: it’s pretty unnerving!
I think they forgot to label the ((black dot)) Combined New and Existing rail (it’s right there between “Citizens for Progressive Transit” and www. cfpt).
Okay… so it wasn’t forgotten. The legend merely reflects the overall rounding error. What a strange endorsement of 20+ years of sprawl.