« Gwinnett to host transportation sales tax forum »

UPDATE: I misinterpreted the AJC article about the forum.  According to a radio report I heard today, the forum is tonight at GJAC.  I apologize for any confusion!

Gwinett County will host a forum on the proposed transportation sales tax on Monday, October 3 TODAY at 5P at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.  The proposed sales tax (TSPLOST), which will be voted on next year, would support a proposed list of transportation projects throughout metro Atlanta. 

There has been some early opposition to the tax from tea party groups.  Obviously, as can be seen by reading the Buzz, I am very conservative.  I generally agree with and support Tea Party positions.  However, I think this opposition is very short-sighted.  Do I think we should support the TSPLOST?  I am not sure, but that is because I strongly feel we need a regionwide comprehensive plan for transportation.  I am not sure that the proposed TSPLOST project list achieves this.  

In recent months, I have travelled to Dallas and Minneapolis, cities of similar size of Atlanta.  While Atlanta was once on par with transportation with any city of its size, in the 10 years since I had last visited Dallas, Atlanta has fallen far behind in terms of transportation infrastructure in terms of both highways and transit.  While I had not previously visited Minneapolis and cannot offer a historical comparison, I was favorablely impressed that their infrastucture was integrated across their metropolitcan area.  

My biggest concern with the TSPLOST is that Atlanta as a region is missing an opportunity to positively address our transportation needs.  However, the TSPLOST project list is not sufficiently regional in scope.  Yes, there are some transit initiatives with regionwide impact - light rail, the GA400/I-285 interchange, etc.  However, there are a large number of projects that are better characterized as local maintenance such as corridor improvements, intersection upgrades, etc.  While these projects may well be warranted, they do not have a broad area impact and are more appropriately handled by local jurisdictions.

It is this limited scope and project list that causes me to pause as to whether to support the proposed tax.  I think they need to scrap the list and start over with a broader perspective.  Once we commit to these projects, we will run the risk of being further left behind other metropolitan areas in the coming decade.  

Furthermore, a big problem for metro Atlanta area transportation is the numerous "fiefdoms" that compete rather than cooperate on transportation planning.  The tax and project list do very little address this key failing.  We must begin to think of our transportation oversight regionally and not as a city and county level only. For a metro area as integrated as Atlanta, to balkanize our transportation management into separate fiefdoms does a grave disservice to our city and state.

I have not decided whether to endorse this tax proposal but I have serious doubts at this point.  The Tea Party is a great organization and the majority of the time is dead-on with their position on the issues.  But, I am concerned that their zeal in opposing taxation, a position I generally share, is blinding them to a reasonable tax for a reasonable function of a limited government.   Rejection of the tax may be the best course, not merely to oppose taxes, but because the TSPLOST does not meet our city's needs.  If planners get that message rather than simply hearing "No new taxes!", hopefully they would go back to the drawing board and develop a comprehensive plan that would have a real impact on Atlanta's transportation and transit infrastructure.