TAKE ACTION: LOCAL TRANSIT FUNDING

BikeAthens advocates for increased funding for our local transit system so that it may serve more ACC residents and visitors. Athens Transit provides a truly valuable service to our community, but it could do so much more if it had the necessary resources. Based on many years’ worth of public comment to both ATS and local transportation planners, we are confident in the latent demand for even further expanded service—many people who do not currently ride the bus would do so if the bus ran more frequently and into later hours.

Besides providing mobility to our neighbors, more buses mean fewer cars on the road. This translates into less traffic congestion, less air pollution, and safer streets for everyone, including those who never step on a bus.

As with all public services, it ultimately comes down to money. As the Georgia Transit Association observes,

“Georgia is one of just nine states that does not provide any operating assistance to its public transit operators. Of the ten most populated states, not only is Georgia the only state not providing operating assistance to transit, it also only provides $.60 (down from $.72 in 2003) per capita for direct financial assistance to public transportation. Our neighbor to the South, Florida, by contrast spends $5.49 per capita, and New York spends the most with $91.88 per capita.”

(source: http://www.thegta.org/legislativeactivity.html)

Indeed, almost half of Athens Transit's budget derives from Athens-Clarke County’s General Fund, and, like many agencies, ATS consistently faces funding shortfalls and must cope with volatile fuel costs.

Athens is growing,, and Athens Transit needs to grow with it. Athens Transit’s services are essential for a healthy community. As such, it needs to have a more reliable, predictable source of funding each year.

While state dollars would tremendously strengthen local transit services (see the GTA quote above), ACC commissioners have asked Athens Transit staff to research local alternate funding sources for transit. The most viable idea was to levy a local sales tax specifically to fund transit. If Athens adopted a Local Option Transit Tax (LOTT) also sometimes referred to as a T-SPLOST (Transportation-Local Option Sales Tax), of just a quarter of a cent ($00.0025) on the dollar, Athens could enjoy more frequent service AND full-scale night service, and ACC would no longer have to fund transit from the general fund. General Fund money could be put to other beneficial uses in the community.

To make this scenario a reality, several things have to happen:

1) First, we need an amendment to House Bill #1444. This bill was signed into law on May 3, 2002. Currently, local sales and use taxes cannot be levied in excess of 2%, but House Bill #1444 allows an exemption to this 2% cap if the tax is "levied for purposes of a metropolitan system of public transportation." The "metropolitan system of public transportation" phrase currently applies only to the Atlanta area. We need an amendment to House Bill #1444, or other appropriate legislation, so that we can exempt Athens from the 2% cap on local sales taxes for the purpose of funding transit.

2) Next, we need ACC to create a Metropolitan Transit Authority, which would administer the funds generated by a special, local transit tax (e.g., an Athens-Clarke County LOTT).

3) Finally, we would need a ballot referendum asking ACC citizens to grant the Metropolitan Transit Authority the power to levy the local sales tax for transit.

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