Metro has new memo on sales tax plan

Metro has added an update to the July 24 board meeting agenda on the proposed half-penny sales tax hike. You can view the whole memo at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website.

For the most part, the memo contains much of what we've reported here in the last few days. Two pieces of legislation are needed to make the sales tax happen -- one from the state (AB 2321), the other from Metro. The ordinance from Metro needs to be set in stone by Aug. 8, and if it doesn't match the state bill, the sales tax likely won't survive.

"It is important to note that if the legislature makes substantial changes to AB 2321 after the Board acts on July 24th that are inconsistent with the ordinance, this could invalidate our sales tax efforts," wrote Metro CEO Roger Snoble and Matt Raymond, the agency's chief communications officer, in the memo.

I also posted a memo from Metro yesterday showing how the money for road projects would be doled out. One thing I glossed over -- I didn't realize its significance -- is the sudden appearance of of $780 million for a tunnel to connect the 710 freeway to Pasadena from its terminus at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra.

That money wasn't previously in the sales tax plan. It's there as a carrot to legislators who represent areas east of downtown. That includes, most notably, state Sen. Gil Cedillo. It's also a project that largely exists only in theory, making it strange that so much money would be dedicated to it.

The memo also contains this key passage:

A key element of the ordinance is the Expenditure Plan. The Plan is currently being revised to reflect and merge the concerns we have heard from the Board, the subregions and State legislators. Comments being incorporated include requests for more detail on the included highway projects and an analysis of geographic balance based on a population and employment. The Plan will be presented to the Board as an attachment to the ordinance at the July Board meeting."

And that's it in a nutshell. Everyone is fighting for projects for their region. Metro expects there to be about $23 billion to dole out for rail and road projects if the sales tax hike is approved by voters in November (a huge 'if') and considering what everyone is asking for, that doesn't appear to be enough.

--Steve Hymon

Comments

[Ingrid Peterson]

Cyclists in L.A. are uniting around a Streetsblog LA signature campaign --->

http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/07/14/bikeped-advocates-want-your-help-to-get-more-funds-from-metro/

As much as we love mass transit, it is simply TIME for the METRO to acknowledge that BICYCLES are a viable mode of transportation.... Both to and from metro locations and all around town.

To this end, we are asking for 1% of this proposed $40 Billion dollar revenue, should this motion pass.

That's right, we have exactly ZERO funds allocated in this measure as it stands currently.

I wish I lived in Paris so bad right now. Now there's an up and coming bike friendly town!