A lot riding on proposal for L.A. County road and transit sales tax

Gas prices are up, traffic is down and mass transit ridership has gone through the roof.

With those issues on the table, the Metro board meets Thursday and has a big decision on its plate: should voters be asked in November to raise the sales tax in Los Angeles County by a half-cent for the next 30 years to pay for new mass transit and road projects?

Such a tax increase, if approved, is expected to raise $30 billion over the next 30 years and perhaps ignite a building boom for rail and road projects (that's the Gold Line's east L.A. extension in the photo above). But the board and other area politicians and officials have been quarreling over how to spend that money and the fighting, which has largely been along geographic lines, may lead to the sales tax effort falling apart.

If the sales tax is approved by voters, how much money would be raised and how would it be spent?

The sales tax increase would be in effect for 30 years and is expected to raise at least $30 billion, although that number could be higher or lower depending on the spending habits of Los Angeles County.

Thirteen mass transit projects and 16 road projects would split the pot. There would also be about       $6 billion set aside that would be returned to each city in the county -- and its unincorporated areas -- for use on transportation improvements as they see fit. This could include everything from pothole repair to bike lanes.

Which mass transit and road projects would get money?

As currently formulated, here's a list of the big winners:

$7.9 billion for county-wide bus operations and expansion
$6 billion to local cities for transportation needs on per capita basis
$4 billion for a Westside subway extension
$1.1 billion for Metrolink operations and expansion
$1 billion for a mass transit project along the 405 freeway in Sepulveda Pass
$971 million for Crenshaw Boulevard light rail or busway
$925 million for completion of the Expo Line light rail to Santa Monica
$735 million for the extension of the Gold Line from Pasadena to Claremont
$906 million for interchange improvements on the 405, 110, 105 and 91 freeways in the South Bay
$780 million for a 710 freeway tunnel under South Pasadena
$590 million for 605 freeway interchange improvements
$590 million for 710 freeway improvements in south L.A. County
$400 million for Alameda Corridor East street crossing separations
$250 million for countywide soundwall expansion

You can find the complete spending list at this link to ordinance on Metro's website. The list is on pages 25 to 27.

That's a lot of projects -- is there enough money to finish them all?

No. And this is an important point. The spending plan that Metro has put together for the sales tax revenue shows the estimated construction costs in 2008 dollars. Even now, most of the projects on the list would still need to get some state, federal and possibly private money to be finished.

It's also important to note that the sales tax revenues do not all show up at once - they would flow into local coffers over the next three decades. So the cost of some projects today could greatly rise by the time they are built and many would not be constructed for years, such as the proposed transit project along the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda Pass (pictured at right). That one isn't slated to be done until, gulp, 2038.

Why so many projects?

Politics. A sales tax increase needs two-thirds support by voters to pass and many local officials believe the only way to achieve that is to spread the benefits around. L.A. County covers 4,084 square miles and has more than 10 million people -- making it the most populated county in the nation. And it has big-time transportation needs.

That's the reason that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, at a recent Metro Board meeting, said that the county needs $100 billion in transportation needs, although he would be very happy to have the $30 billion or more from the sales tax.

Is the sales tax definitely going to make the fall ballot?

No. If the Metro Board votes to go forward with the proposal Thursday -- and it appears the seven votes are there to do so -- the state Legislature still must approve a bill, AB 2321, that would allow the county to take the tax to voters.

Various elected officials, particularly those representing the San Gabriel Valley, have complained that the region would not get its fair share of projects from the sales tax and they want assurances the Gold Line would get sales tax money immediately, saying the project is ready to begin construction. Metro recently upped the funding for the Gold Line in the sales tax plan to $735 million, but not enough to win support from some Valley officials.

In particular, Gold Line advocates want the Metro Board to vote for a motion by board members John Fasana and county Supervisor Mike Antonovich to give the Gold Line $80 million in funding now. On Thursday, five members of Congress from the Valley dispatched a letter to Metro board members insisting on the $80 million.

The money, Gold Line advocates say, would make the project eligible to seek federal funding, although it remains far from certain that Congress would be willing to allocate more than $300 million for the project. Typically, Congress pays for half or less of new rail projects.

Fasana said Wednesday that he can't support the sales tax plan as written because it leaves too many questions unanswered. "I've got some concerns about equity," Fasana told me today. "My [other] issue is that some of these projects will get built and some won't."

One of his concerns is where the money goes if a project such as, for example, the 710 tunnel falls through. Does it go to the subway? The Gold Line? Is it spread around the county in a fair way?

Fasana also said that he could support the sales tax, but needs to see amendments on Thursday to the sales tax plan that the Gold Line would get money in a timely fashion.

What are the supporters saying?

“I’m not surprised by the parochialism –- to a large extent people are elected to deliver for their district,” said Richard Katz, the former assembly member and Metro board member. “I get that part, but I don’t think people fully comprehend what benefits their district.”

His point: because many people commute such great distances in the county, projects have an impact upon their immediate area –- a commuter in Claremont, for example, could take Metrolink to the subway a Beverly Hills job. Katz also said that significant sums of money have been shifted to San Gabriel Valley projects and added, "I think everyone needs to take a step back and see what they risk if this thing falls apart."

Roger Snoble, Metro's CEO, has argued that the sales tax is the best chance for Los Angeles County to get billions of dollars in funding. "Without it" -- the money -- "it's extremely bleak," Snoble told the California Transportation Commission on Wednesday. "And we won't be adding much capacity to the system."

--Steve Hymon

Top photo: Ann Johansson / For The Times

Bottom photo: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[calwatch]

The Orange Line (maglev) is the stupidest thing ever, and your spam isn't helping. The train is not accelerating to 200 mph because the amount of acceleration and jerk that a human being will tolerate outside of a Freefall ride or roller coaster is not that high, especially if they are not in control of it (i.e., I can come to a quick stop when I'm driving, but I get dizzy when I'm a passenger and the driver slams on the brakes). No one will want to live next to the maglev, since studies have shown that maglev noise is similar to that of jet aircraft, and how many people do you see live next to an airport runway? The cost is atrocious, and imagine all the traffic that the parking structures for the maglev, with its infrequently spaced stops, will generate. Councilmember Cartozian is a politician and can say whatever he wants, but once the maglev gets to environmental review, it will fail miserably.

calwatch, PE

[Tony Fernandez]

Hey Kirk, that Maglev train is a joke. Maglev is incredibly expensive to build, incredibly expensive to maintain, and is meant for long distances, not to transport people in LA. These Maglev pie-in-the-sky proposals are the reason why we can't build a great rail line along the old PE ROW that would go from downtown to Santa Ana.

http://transittalk.proboards37.com/index.cgi?board=maglev&action=display&thread=132
http://transittalk.proboards37.com/index.cgi?board=maglev&action=display&thread=538

[Ingrid]

Bicycles.

[Kirk Cartozian]

“The Antidote to Publicly Subsidized Transportation in California”

The bus and rail proposals to be funded from a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed $30 billion ½-cent sales tax increase will help to meet future transportation needs. In addition to increasing subsidies for existing bus and rail services, the tax increase will also help to fund 13 rail and 16 highway expansion projects. Additional state and federal tax support will also be relied upon.

While $30 billion is a sizable pot of money, especially during this time of financial distress, even this level of tax-payer support will only make a dent in addressing future transportation needs.

To support MTA’s efforts, a number of forward-looking cities in Southern California have taken the initiative to help bring long-term relief to their residents and businesses. Their strategy is to permanently cut reliance on oil-dependent modes of transportation. They are developing a high-speed “maglev” system that will connect designated growth centers within their communities, enabling residents to travel in comfort at over 100 mph without having to worry about filling up the tank with grocery money or about traffic delays.

Five years ago, two Los Angeles County cities came together to bring about this innovative and futuristic approach to transportation and to reshape and prepare their cities for a fast-changing world economy using market-based financial models. Since then, thirteen more cities have joined in and other cities are considering doing the same. The results thus far have been profound. Each city agency has moved forward with redesignations of its general plan to make its case for a station area development in their community. What a great way for cities to send signals to the development community about where they actually want growth to occur.

Their futuristic approach to transportation and urban development is the privately-financed Orangeline High-Speed Maglev. This unprecedented combination of transportation with mixed-use, transit-oriented development also brings infill housing, as well as office and commercial improvements around each of the 18 planned Maglev stations. Maglev is proven technology that is now in place in other parts of the world, most notably Shanghai, China and Nagoya, Japan.

The Orangeline High-Speed Maglev is an elevated transportation system that is very much in appearance like the monorail at Disneyland, but in bullet speed. It uses advanced electromagnetic technology that floats or “levitates” the Maglev above a fixed guideway allowing it to travel at top speeds of 300 miles per hour. Through dense urban areas, speeds will generally top out at under 200 mph and total average travel speed of about 90 mph, to accommodate time spent at each of the 18 planned station stops.

The Maglev concept is based on physical properties of magnets that both “attract” and “push away,” depending on the polarity of the magnets. The proposed Orangeline High-Speed Maglev is capable of carrying both passengers and cargo along its 108-mile route, which would run from central Orange County to downtown Los Angeles, then to Santa Clarita and finally to Palmdale. The system will be located above existing public railroad and highway “rights-of-way” to minimize the need for new property acquisition.

What is also unique about the proposed Orangeline High Speed Maglev is that it would be developed through a $20-billion Public-Private Partnership (P3) using funds from private investors. Thus, taxpayers will not be additionally burdened to build or operate the Orangeline High-Speed Maglev.

The privately-funded Orangeline High-Speed Maglev would complement a proposed taxpayer-funded, state-wide high-speed system under development by the California High Speed Rail Authority. Like the local ½-cent sales tax-funded projects, the state high-speed rail also depends upon voter approval this November of $10 billion in State taxpayer-supported bond funding and another $10 billion in federal taxpayer funding for that system’s first leg. The California high-speed train uses conventional “steel rail” technology – not the newer, more-advanced maglev system.

At its most recent meeting, the Orangeline Development Authority began relations with a world-class law firm to help solicit proposals from potential investors and development partners that would actually build and operate the maglev system. These private partners will be challenged with the task of creating new housing and other mixed-use improvements around each of the planned stations. The goal is to have the first Maglev segment operating within 8 years and the full 108-mile line in operation by 2020.

Further information about this innovative project can be found at www.orangeline.calmaglev.org or by calling the Orangeline Development Authority directly at 310.871.1113.

Kirk Cartozian
Chair, Orangeline Development Authority
City Councilmember, City of Downey

Kirk Cartozian
City Councilmember
City of Downey
11111 Brookshire Avenue, 3rd Floor
Downey, CA 90241
kcartozian@downeyca.org
562-904-7274 (office)
562-923-6388 (fax)

[Alek F]

Dear MTA,
please stop investing in those useless road projects!
(especially the stupid 710 tunnel under Pasadena!)
btw, Ray - I agree with you and I like your comments.
I think most of the Sales Tax money should be invested into Subway construction and LRT expansion.
Enough of funding road projects!

[Jerome H. Weymouth]

Steveo
I am in agreement that a new transit tax is needed, but i want a dedicated tax that goes for Transit Projects Only and that it can't be raided for any other purposes. No money diverted for the councilmen pet projects Like flowers planted around his local office or for so other somehting that has nothing to do with transi!

[nobody]

Personally, I find it odd that there are no large projects slated for the southeast portion of the county (south of Whittier and east of the 710). With at least 10% of the population living there, that can kill this proposal.

[Ray]

$7.9 billion for county-wide bus operations and expansion - SEEMS VERY HIGH
$6 billion to local cities for transportation needs on per capita basis - AN INSANE INEFFICIENT GIVE AWAY!!!
$4 billion for a Westside subway extension - GOOD INVESTMENT
$1.1 billion for Metrolink operations and expansion - TOO SMALL. WAY TOO SMALL. REGIONAL TRANSIT IS THE CRITICAL ISSUE. LA'S TRANSIT PROBLEMS ARE NOT LOCAL MOVEMENT.
$1 billion for a mass transit project along the 405 freeway in Sepulveda Pass - SMART
$971 million for Crenshaw Boulevard light rail or busway - OK
$925 million for completion of the Expo Line light rail to Santa Monica - HOW ABOUT AN UPGRADE TO HEAVY RAIL IN A TRENCH? MOVE THOSE TRAINS FAST.
$735 million for the extension of the Gold Line from Pasadena to Claremont - SHOULD BE METROLINK REGIONAL RAIL - TOO FAR FOR LOCAL LIGHT RAIL. 35 MILES OF LOCAL LIGHT RAIL? C'MON PEOPLE. WAKE UP.
$906 million for interchange improvements on the 405, 110, 105 and 91 freeways in the South Bay - REALLY, TO DO WHAT?
$780 million for a 710 freeway tunnel under South Pasadena - NUTS - JUST CRAZY. DROP IT ALL READY. LEAVE IT ALONE.
$590 million for 605 freeway interchange improvements - AGAIN - SEEMS HIGH
$590 million for 710 freeway improvements in south L.A. County - SEEMS HIGH
$400 million for Alameda Corridor East street crossing separations - OK
$250 million for countywide soundwall expansion - MONEY WELL SPENT

[lsm]

Former Assemblyman Katz hit the regrettable nail on its head when he bemoaned, "I don't think people fully comprehend what benefits their district." The sad reality extends well beyond Steve's very appropriate individual example of a Claremont commuter who could take Metrolink to a Beverly Hills job once the Purple Line was extended. In an era of soaring gas prices and gridlocked freeways and surface streets, leaving our region's two employment engines (Downtown and the Westside) unconnected by any grade-separated rail puts us at a significant regional disadvantage. Regions with the foresight to build such vital infrastructure (such as the Bay Area) will grow ever more attractive to employers. As Los Angeles County hemorrhages well-paying jobs to regions with adequate transportation systems, picture the dwindling tax base, soaring foreclosures and plummeting home values not just Downtown and the Westside, but all of LA County (including the San Gabriel Valley) will face.

Voting single issue politics and "seeing laws or sausages made" are ordinarily bad practice. Unfortunately we live not in ordinary times. Our woefully underdeveloped transit system poses catastrophic consequences for all who live in our region. We are already too far behind to survive further delay in necessary investment. Passing a county sales hike this fall is our last shot. We all must realize how greatly each of us will suffer if our entire region fails to invest now in appropriate transit. Because the stakes are so high, we voters must assume responsibility, refuse to tolerate politics as usual and demand our elected politicians stop grand-standing and start serving our best interest. Those of us who live in districts represented by particularly parochial politicians must contact them now and tell them they are wrong to sell out our interests for their own political aggrandizement. We must then tell them we will vote them out of office over this vital issue--no matter what local project they demanded when they sold out our region. The rest of us should also take this opportunity to make it clear we will never vote for them in a broader election for the same reason.

[vanno]

A sales tax is the answer for ALL gov't revenues!