Will Gwinnett County join MARTA? Not likely, officials say (Atlanta: neighborhood, taxes)

[primaltech]

So, as far as the thing about CID's and MARTA, apparently that is actually being talked about:

Why a MARTA move into Cobb County wouldn’t have to be all or nothing | Political Insider

But there are subgroups in Cobb. They include the Cumberland Community Improvement District, a 29-year-old district in which businesses tax themselves an extra 5 mills in property tax — for purposes that include transportation. It has become Cobb’s economic center — and put the oomph behind Cobb’s effort to lure Braves baseball out of Atlanta.

When I got him on the phone, Ashe carefully repeated what he had told me months ago. “We are certainly open to further conversation about alternative arrangements that would permit portions of communities, such as a CID, to enter into a relationship to provide transit to portions of a community that are interested in it, without committing the rest of the county,” Ashe told me.

It might take new legislation, to allow for increased and long-term taxing power, Ashe said. But he assured me that he would welcome a discussion of the topic in January, when Tippins and other state lawmakers assemble once more in Atlanta.

I was wrong that it would be legally possible right now for a CID to join MARTA on a permanent basis, and receive mass transit. But it sounds like they possibly could change that in January.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

And I'm one of those Gwinnetter's to concur!

Gwinnetians.

[cqholt]

-We need some type of tiered taxing and tiered service level program for the entire region. Some level of service that is mandatory for all and some that isn't

Setup like Chicagoland transit.

[primaltech]

That tiered setup would be pretty simple:

Tier 1: 1 % sales tax: Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton

Tier 2: .5 % sales tax (commuter transit only): Rockdale, Henry, Fayette, Douglas, Cherokee

Those are the 10 counties of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

That's all we would need to do. Whether it's called MARTA or GRTA or something else, I don't care at all. But it sure would be great to have those 10 counties unified as one system. With 2 tiers of service/funding level.

[primaltech]

Maybe 3 tiers:

Tier 1: 1.5%: Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb

Tier 2: 1%: Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton

Tier 3: .5%: Rockdale, Henry, Fayette, Douglas, Cherokee

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Setup like Chicagoland transit.

Yea...I struggle with figuring out the one way I'd like to see this move forward, but that is the way my thoughts are trending.

I just think it needs to be big though.

Something like all suburban counties (thinking along the lines of 15-20) at a small rate 0.25% and we make sure we have. Commuter rail, once implemented, can outwards from Atlanta a very long distance without further freight disruptions at a fairly cheap costs, then use commuter buses to fill in some gaps. The key thing is staying realistic on scheduling and making enough core improvements that freight companies can some maintain local movements during commuter hours.

I'd also like to see some type of localized property taxes used around premium stops. Much of it is built to the benefit of their property.

I'm beginning to think there are some types of property owners that reap the benefits of transit, but don't pay as much for it. They support taxes and campaigns that get people who live far from it to pay-in.


Typically any type of property tax becomes unpopular and it isn't traditionally supported by Republicans, but it seems the most fair.

And I do think the state needs some more skin in the game. Metro Atlanta is still a donor tax region for the state.


Either way... the Republicans keep talking like they are slowing warming up to ideas and want to look at changes... We need to get them to stick to their word, discuss with cities and counties and public discussion on what can be done.

I also think Atlanta's sales tax is getting to be a bit high. They're tapped out in a sense and it will be harder to use sales tax to get additional funds in the future for much else. This is partly why think we need to look into localized property tax zones.


Speaking of... does anyone know when the MOST (water and sewer) tax is set to expire and if it will have finished the job?

[bu2]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Maybe 3 tiers:

Tier 1: 1.5%: Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb

Tier 2: 1%: Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton

Tier 3: .5%: Rockdale, Henry, Fayette, Douglas, Cherokee

Another alternative would be the same rate, but rebating part back to the counties for spending on their road networks. That would compensate counties that didn't need as robust a transit service while still getting that spending on transportation. It would also allow them to change should their circumstances change.

[bu2]

Although I really think the core 5 are the only ones who need to be together.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by bu2

Another alternative would be the same rate, but rebating part back to the counties for spending on their road networks. That would compensate counties that didn't need as robust a transit service while still getting that spending on transportation. It would also allow them to change should their circumstances change.

This is sort of what T-SPLOST originally did.

It allowed the region to collect the same tax, but spend it on a number of different priorities that worked regionally, but differed in the ways some money was spent.

The problem is most people were too hung up on the whole thing needing to be all transit or all roads and made the whole thing divisive and unproductive with people unwilling to work together.

I also think the public had trouble understanding what seemed like a scattered collection of projects were all a part of a greater regional plan that collection of projects was helping implement.

[primaltech]

Even that failed 2012 T-SPLOST was only $7.2 billion, and most of that for roads. And the failed (blocked) 2016 .5 penny for MARTA in Fulton and DeKalb was only $8 billion. Both were something, but not near enough, especially for the region as a whole.

We need to just stop messing around. What the 10-county Atlanta region really needs, is a $50 billion package (of various kinds of taxes) for a massive, unprecedented expansion of various forms of transit. Purely to be spent on transit. If Seattle can do it, so can we. And so should we. We're the larger metro anyway. We should invest AT LEAST as much as they.

I haven't done the math or anything, but I believe $50 B should be able to:

-Fully fund the entire commuter rail system within the 10 counties. All lines and branches of it, all the necessary track widening, all the trains, and all the stations on all the lines, including the MMPT main terminal where they all meet up.

-Fully fund the most needed MARTA heavy rail expansions. Red Line to Windward Pkwy, Blue Line to Stonecrest Mall on the east, and Six Flags on the west. Plus new key infill stations like Armour and Krog St, and maybe even extending the Green Line a bit to the NW, and a modest extension of the Gold Line. Maybe even LRT between Cumberland and Arts Center.

-Fully fund all LRT and Streetcar projects, including the Beltline transit loop.

-Whatever's leftover allocated towards improving bus frequencies and facilities and such. Bus shelters on all routes, etc.

Now THAT would be a game-changer. The kind of game-changer that we really need. We need to be thinking big.