The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
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| The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
01-03-2005 LEGISLATURE '05: THE BIG ISSUES: Big goals for session The Republican-controlled Legislature comes to town this month with an agenda of major issues sure to have an impact on the metro area THE BIG ISSUES: Road funds for Atlanta could rise Byline: JULIE B. HAIRSTON STAFF Edition: Home Section: HORIZON Georgia legislators in January will consider a full slate of new ways to get much-needed transportation improvements moving in metro Atlanta and the rest of the state. Faced with a growing gap between local needs for new roads, sidewalks, buses and trains and the money available to pay for them, Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed a task force of transportation officials in April. They studied a variety of transportation funding methods used in other states to see what might work in Georgia. The task force recommendations sent to the governor's office in November outlined five potential sources of new funding for roads, mass transit and pedestrian thoroughfares. As many as three of those recommendations are said to have good prospects for passage this year, and others may become legislative proposals in future years. In addition, legislation intended to make more money available to metro Atlanta for gridlock relief is expected, including an exemption for interstate highway improvements from the state law requiring equal transportation spending in each of Georgia's 13 congressional districts. The so-called "congressional balancing" requirement has been a handicap to metro Atlanta, a hub for three interstate highways on which metro commuters depend heavily. "These are arteries that we all use, and they're expensive to maintain," said state Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. An effort to exempt interstates from congressional balancing came close to passage in the 2004 General Assembly but failed during last- minute negotiations between the House and Senate. With Republicans in control of both houses of the Legislature, Williams said approval this year is more likely. "I think we can make the case," he said. State transportation officials are struggling to stretch what money is available for new transit and roads as far as they can. A federal transportation spending plan for the next six years has been stalled in Congress for almost a year. But even when the spending is approved, metro officials aren't expecting any additional dollars for Georgia's transportation needs. State Transportation Board Chairman David Doss said that between 1992 and 2001, inflation reduced the value of Georgia's federal transportation grants 22 percent. And the state has not raised its 7.5-cents-per-gallon motor fuel tax in more than 30 years. It is the lowest gasoline tax in the nation. Doing more with less Steve Stancil, executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, said the task force recommendations are aimed at helping communities do more with those shrinking dollars. "I don't see any new revenue, federal or state, in the near future," Stancil said. "We're going to have to do the best we can with what we've got." Task force recommendations expected to be considered by the Legislature in its 2005 session include: Creation of a revolving pool of low-interest loan money for transportation projects. The pool, similar to those used in 32 other states, would be called the State Infrastructure Bank. The bank also gained approval in the 2004 Legislature, but differences in the House and Senate versions had not been ironed out when the closing gavel fell. This year, officials said, creation of the loan pool is a virtual certainty. It will provide loans to communities that can confirm that money will be available to repay the loan. "If they have a reliable revenue source like a [special purpose local option sales tax] for transportation, instead of waiting . . . they can get a low-interest loan and go ahead and start the projects," said state Road and Tollway Authority Director Doug Hooker, who served on the task force. What remains uncertain is where the money will come from to establish the infrastructure bank. "That is something that is going to have to be ironed out," said Harold Linnenkohl, Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner. Hooker said he expects to see a proposal for the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, which now makes similar loans for water and sewer projects, to administer the bank. Refining the state's new law allowing private companies to propose gridlock- busting transportation projects. Critics of the law are pushing to increase the amount of time allowed for competitive bids to be submitted and for greater public disclosure in the process. Williams said the law will be "tweaked" this year to address such concerns. The state DOT is considering proposals for construction and toll booths on Ga. 316 and for toll lanes and bus rapid transit on I-75 and I-575. A third proposal for new lanes on Ga. 400 was unveiled last week. State officials said the concept of private road building is relatively new nationwide, but hopes are high that allowing such deals can speed up expensive construction projects for gridlocked thoroughfares by allowing private investment. Shifting collection of the state's 7.5-cents-per-gallon motor fuel tax from the state's petroleum distributors to the companies that sell to the distributors. A similar move shifting the collection point from the retail pump two years ago significantly increased the amount of money collected from the tax, Doss said. Reducing the number of collection points helped cut the number of costly errors in the collection system. Officials are hoping that a second reduction in collection points will produce another boost in revenue. On the back burner Several other proposals under discussion are not expected to come up in the Legislature in 2005, but they appear to be under serious consideration for the future. Two of them are recommendations of the task force. The task force recommended that Georgia's per-gallon motor fuel tax rise at the same rate as the consumer price index, which is a measure of how much $1 will buy. This, they said, would help hold transportation spending at steady levels instead of seeing tax dollars' buying power eroded by inflation. Williams said he doubts that the recommendation will be part of the transportation proposals considered by the 2005 Legislature, although Doss called indexing "a much-needed idea." "I haven't heard of anybody who's ready to drop a bill, but people are talking about it," Williams said. Indexing the motor fuel tax would raise collections about 2 percent per year, the task force report estimated, producing an estimated additional $2.3 billion for transportation spending between now and 2024. But some see indexing as a back-door tax. "Some Republicans don't think that's the way to go," Stancil said. The task force also recommended allowing governments to collect motor fuel taxes at the city or county level. Florida allows local governments to collect between 5 and 12 cents per gallon. "Every single county in Florida has used this," Linnenkohl said. But the feeling is that such a proposal may be premature in Georgia this year. Panel may continue Mike Kenn, president of Georgians for Better Transportation, said state and local governments need to establish measurable goals for transportation spending before creating a new source of funding such as the local option gas tax. Georgians for Better Transportation is a nonprofit organization of business interests that has been lobbying for more than 15 years to increase the amount of transportation funding in Georgia. "What they need to do is create a circumstance where people can see what their money will actually buy," Kenn said. Finally, transportation officials are expecting Perdue to include a second phase of his Fast Forward bonding program in the fiscal 2006 budget. The first phase of Fast Forward provided more than $1 billion for new HOV lanes, intersection improvements and traffic signal timing, among other projects, last year. But the governor is keeping the transportation proposals in his 2005 legislative package under wraps until his State of the State address later this month. Loretta Lepore, a Perdue spokeswoman, said the governor is considering a request from the task force to continue its work in 2005. "We're in that process right now of determining whether the task force is going to continue to work on the recommendations as presented to date," Lepore said. "That's very much under review by this office." Illustrations/Photos: Photo
Rush-hour commuters stop to pay the toll on Ga. 400. Collecting tolls on I-75 and I-575 and allowing a private company to rebuild Ga. 316 as a toll road are among proposals being studied by state transportation officials. / CURTIS COMPTON / Staff Photo A MARTA train whisks by as traffic on the Downtown Connector backs up during a typical Atlanta rush hour. Legislation aimed at easing congestion will go to the Legislature this year. / JOHN SPINK / Staff (Copyright, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution - 2005) Directory: News -> Georgia Georgia -> Paying for energy efficiency investments a challenge Urvaksh Karkaria Georgia -> Atlanta's district sec office to be regionalized Atlanta Business Chronicle March 30, 2007 Georgia -> Atlanta Business Chronicle From the February 28, 2005 print edition Georgia -> Atlanta Journal Constitution Thursday April 7, 2005 Georgia -> Atlanta Business Chronicle From the January 3, 2005 print edition Georgia -> Charlotte Business Journal March 31, 2006 by David Mildenberg-Staff Writer Georgia -> Atlanta Business Chronicle From the April 11, 2005 print edition Georgia -> Atlanta Business Chronicle From the December 5, 2005 print edition Georgia -> Consultant: Atlanta's traffic is endangering its growth By ariel hart Download 15.57 Kb. Share with your friends:
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