Big news for transit at the county level! Yesterday, three more counties voted in favor of supporting a quarter cent sales tax to implement new transitways. Hennepin, Dakota, and Washington now join Anoka and Ramsey counties in voting to levy the tax.

Dakota County supported the move in a 5-2 vote, with strong statements of support from the majority Commissioners about how transit is becoming more important to Dakota County, particularly its role in relieving traffic congestion and addressing the needs of seniors who can’t drive.

Hennepin County also voted 5-2 to support the tax. Passing the tax in Hennepin County was fairly certain from the start, but Commissioner McLaughlin wanted to ensure that the sales tax funds would be used for transit expansion and not to fill in deficits caused by the Governor’s proposed budget. Commissioner Linda Koblik, who was uncertain about her vote, finally voted in favor of the transit tax, and mentioned that she heard support from many members of Transit for Livable Communities.

Washington County voted 3-2 in favor of the transit tax. Transit for Livable Communities focused much of its efforts on mobilizing members in Washington County, because a yes vote was far from certain. Many members of Transit for Livable Communities contacted their commissioners, and there was great turnout at the meeting in Stillwater.

As a result of these votes, each county will levy a 1/4 cent sales tax, which is expected to raise approximately $100 million per year in dedicated funds for transitways. These resources will be used to help fund Northstar commuter rail and Central Corridor light rail as well as future light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit, including the Southwest and Red Rock corridors. Decisions will be made by the new Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB), made up of representatives from the five counties and the Metropolitan Council. Votes are weighted among counties based on expected sales tax revenue and population; out of 100 votes, 95 are distributed to counties and 5 to the Metropolitan Council. For more detailed information, including revenue projections, see Hennepin County’s summary materials.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm by Katie and is filed under Transit and Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.