City, county form priorities for transit tax

Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials have agreed to fund transit expansion and other transportation projects jointly, but clear areas of interest have emerged in each locality should the ability to levy taxes be granted.

Elected officials from both local governments are urging the General Assembly today to allow for the creation of a regional transit authority, which would oversee the expansion of the local bus system and even out its financial burden between the city and county. The officials also seek the ability to raise the sales tax by a penny at most to raise funds for transit and transportation projects, as state transportation funding continues to dry up in light of the budget crisis.

“There’s not much difference in the way we view the region’s transportation issues,” Albemarle Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said.

Each locality would collect its own sales tax revenue and separately decide how the money is spent. Officials say that Charlottesville, where road expansion is almost not an option and population growth is virtually nonexistent, would remain mostly focused on building up a more robust transit system. And while Albemarle will contribute to the same cause, financing some large — and unfunded — transportation projects has clearly developed as a main priority.

“The needs are much different,” Rooker said.

Should a voter referendum allow local officials to levy the sales tax — which, if raised 1 cent, would garner roughly $26 million annually — projects must be chosen from the regional Constrained Long Range Plan, the city’s Urban Road Program and the county’s Secondary Road Program. “The bulk of our money will go to transit,” City Councilor Satyendra Huja said, adding that improvements to bridges are needed but road projects are few.

He added, “We are not that interested in highways.”

Rooker said there is unanimity between the local governments that better transit is needed, especially as the county experiences growth and increasing population density. Part of the sales tax revenue in each locality would first and foremost be directed toward regional transit authority expenses.

Nonetheless, should the county garner the additional monies, much of it would go to transportation in general, Rooker said.

“I think there are some [projects] that everyone recognizes that are pretty acute,” he said, citing in particular Jarman’s Gap Road improvements and the widening of U.S. 29 from Polo Grounds Road to the Hollymead Town Center.

In addition to bike, transit, rail and pedestrian projects, a draft priority list for Charlottesville and Albemarle mentions the Berkmar Bridge over the Rivanna River, Hillsdale Drive Extended and the Sunset-Fontaine Avenue Connector as examples of key road projects that could be funded with the extra tax dollars along with regional transit authority costs. But specific cost allocations for the local transit system versus other transportation projects were rejected because of uncertain future circumstances, Rooker said.“You don’t want to have your hands tied and be unable to deal with the practicalities of the situations you face,” he said.

Estimates exist for some of the projects, but officials said exact figures are not yet known. Mayor Dave Norris said he can’t imagine transit system expenses exceeding $10 million per year, but “we don’t know which of these options we’re going to choose for this expanded system.”

Expanding the bus system, depending on the scope of the project, could cost anywhere from close to $5 million to $138 million in capital costs and $6 million to $16.7 million in annual operating expenses, according to a report completed by Vienna-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc.

Of course, most, if not all, of these projects depend on the tax legislation’s approval, something that officials are still uncertain about as the General Assembly takes up the matter today.

“I’m not overly optimistic that it will get through the House of Delegates,” Rooker said.

Norris said he thinks the financing bill’s approval partly depends on how it is framed for legislators.

“If it’s perceived as a bill that would raise taxes, then it may not fly,” Norris said. He added that the difference is subtle, but important — the sales tax could only be raised should a voter referendum permit it.

“The question is, do we trust the people to make the decisions that will affect their future? That’s what it boils down to,” Norris said.

And if the bills do not fly among legislators, officials agree that it is still a move in the right direction.

“It’s a first step,” Huja said.