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| FY2015 Hillsborough County Transportation budget Click to enlarge |
As stated before, there is no CIT tax dollars available for roads. Most of our county transportation funding is sourced from our gas taxes, which may continue declining with more fuel efficient vehicles and vehicles fueled by other fuel sources such as natural gas, electric, hybrids, etc.
The commissioners know we have road funding issue. When I spoke to Commissioner Sharpe back in 2010 when he was pushing for the rail tax referendum, he knew there was no CIT for roads and stated then his concern about no funding for our roads. That was four years ago. What has been done since then to resolve our road funding gap? Nothing. Why?
Our county budget and revenue has been going up but our road money has been going down. Perhaps some of the "gaming/casino" discretionary revenue should be directed to a higher priority of roads. Who is holding our road funding hostage?
We've got champions for more transit on the county commission but where's the champions for our roads that 98% of use everyday? The public and taxpayers deserve an answer and a resolution to this problem.
I attended the Hillsborough County Commission meeting Thursday, September 4 and made a public comment about the lack of county road funding. Go to the HTV video link for the September 4 meeting to find my comment starting at about 36:25 but below is basically what I said:
The Federal Highway Administration just released a Press Release stating that vehicle miles travelled has increased back to what was seen in 2008 prior to the recession. Americans are back driving again. They stated we must invest in our highways to bear the growing volumes of traffic. It is estimated that 5-600 thousand new residents may move to Hillsborough County over the next 25 years. They will probably move to where the last 600 thousand in the county moved to – in the county but not in downtown towers. Roads are our county's biggest asset. Our roads must be maintained, they must be improved and we must build new roads, especially if all those new residents move here. However, Hillsborough County has a critical road funding gap. Our roads have been neglected for years as approved road projects were shelved due to lack of funding. This cannot continue. FY2015 budget at $4B is approaching levels before the recession forced cuts and our tax revenues are inching up. Yet our road budget for a county of almost 1.3 million people is a mere $6.5 million for 2015. This lack of road funding needs some resolution NOW. You are in the budget process today and road funding needs to be a priority for FY2015. This issue cannot wait. It cannot wait to be bundled in with some proposed future referendum that may or may not ever happen. County road funding cannot wait on the Policy Leadership Group. There are road projects that were approved – they need funding. Our roads should not be held hostage for other transportation or transit projects some may be attempting to pursue for the future. HART, our local transit agency, does not have the immediate critical funding gap today that roads do. 98% of us use our roads everyday. Maintaining our roads is a major responsibility of local government. Our 2015 budget and our current CAFR needs to be scrutinized.and this commission needs to begin addressing our road funding gap now.As I walked back to my seat, Commissioner Sharpe (who is the chairman of our BOCC and chairman of our MPO) made this statement which is at 39:03 of the video:
At the MPO meeting yesterday the Board approved a lot of changes to our prioritized roads and it's good to know we have $1.4 billion dedicated to road projects over the next four years, five years.
First of all, was that statement appropriate? I or anyone else had no opportunity to rebut it or question it, though some of the other County Commissioners could have corrected Sharpe's false statement.
What MPO list was Commissioner Sharpe speaking about? I found the transcript of the Tuesday MPO meeting, which Sharpe chairs. (Very interesting meeting transcript worth reading in its entirety). The $1.4 billion list Sharpe was talking about is the MPO's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The September 2 meeting was to approve the updated TIP for 2015-2019. The TIP document can be found on the MPO website here.
What MPO list was Commissioner Sharpe speaking about? I found the transcript of the Tuesday MPO meeting, which Sharpe chairs. (Very interesting meeting transcript worth reading in its entirety). The $1.4 billion list Sharpe was talking about is the MPO's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The September 2 meeting was to approve the updated TIP for 2015-2019. The TIP document can be found on the MPO website here.
What is the TIP? It is defined in the document as:
The primary 5-year spending plan of state and federal revenues anticipated to be allocated to the urban area as well as major transportation projects of ALL types (emphasis mine).
It is required that the federally mandated MPO's (Metropolitan Planning Organizations) update these documents annually as part of their certification process to ensure continued federal funding of transportation projects in Hillsborough County. MPO coordinates with a number of other organizations to complete this list.
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| Other organizations MPO coordinates with to complete TIP |
But what is actually in this $1.4 billion list? Lots of transportation projects including for the Port Authority, for the Airport Authority including the huge expansion being done at TIA as well as projects for the 3 other general purpose airports and HART transit projects. There are numerous projects for sidewalks, safety improvements and for trails. Those projects have NOTHING to do with improving our roads to help reduce congestion.
From the transcript of the September 2 MPO meeting:
From the transcript of the September 2 MPO meeting:
- Page 9 - "WE ARE NOT RECOMMENDING THIS YEAR A LOT OF ADDITIONS TO THE PRIORITY LIST BECAUSE OF THE DISCUSSIONS AND THOSE COORDINATION ACTIVITIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, SO WE ARE RECOGNIZING THAT WALK/BIKE SAFETY IS A TOP PRIORITY (emphasis mine)."
- Page 11 - "THE WESTSHORE MULTIMODAL CENTER, WHICH YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT LATER ON THE AGENDA, IS ANOTHER REGIONAL PRIORITY THAT WAS
- ADDED AS WELL AS THAT TRANSIT CONNECTION THAT WOULD GO FROM THE WESTSHORE MULTIMODAL CENTER UP TO THE TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ON THE MAJOR REGIONAL TRAILS PROJECT WE'VE KIND OF REORGANIZED THOSE FIRST TWO, THE UPPER TAMPA BAY TRAIL AND THE SOUTH TAMPA GREENWAY (emphasis mine)."
- Page 11 - "THE ONE CAPACITY PROJECT THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING ADDING TO THE LIST IS U.S. 92 FROM U.S. 301 TO 579, SO THIS IS RIGHT AROUND THAT I-4/I-75 INTERCHANGE AREA IN SEFFNER (emphasis mine).
The MPO, as rail proponents, included in the MPO's priority list projects that would need addition funding, rail from the airport to Westshore. Why? Does that project help anyone in Hillsborough County get from where they live to where they work?
Commissioner Sharpe, Chair of the MPO, then asked at the MPO meeting what the total amount of money was being spent on the existing priorities already funded. The response on Page 13 of the meeting transcript:
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| Rail Project added to MPO's TIP that needs additional funding Click to enlarge |
>>WALLY BLAIN: IT IS A LARGE NUMBER.I HAVE THIS GRAPHIC.THIS IS WHAT'S CURRENTLY -- ON THIS GRAPHIC HERE, THIS IS WHAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE 2014/2015 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, SO IT'S ABOUT $1.4 BILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, BUT THAT INCLUDES A LOT OF MONEY THAT SPECIFICALLY GOES FOR THE SUPPORT -- YOU CAN SEE IT THERE -- UNDER THE PORTS, AIRPORTS, AND RAIL.WE HAVE A MAJOR AIRPORT AND A MAJOR PORT FACILITY AS WELL, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT MONEY IS GOING TO THOSE AS WELL, SO ABOUT $1.4 BILLION IN TOTAL FOR OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS BEING SPENT OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.>>MARK SHARPE: OKAY.SO ABOUT 1.4 BILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?>>WALLY BLAIN: MM-HMM.>>MARK SHARPE: EXCELLENT.
The thimble sized $6.5 million of County funded projects that are listed in the FY2015 budget, and funded almost totally by our local gas tax, are in the TIP:
- $5.2 million for repaving/resurfacing
- $400K for Bridge work
- $250K for paved shoulders/bike lanes
- $550K for sidewalk safety/ADA improvement
The road improvement projects in the TIP that will help address congestion are for state roads and interstate highways NOT County roads. While the State is doing its job to fund our roads, the County is not. In addition, a large portion of the projects in the TIP are not for roads and have nothing to do with roads. Many of the projects in the TIP for 2015 are part of the airport expansion.
The truth is and to correct the record - Hillsborough County does NOT have $1.4 billion dedicated to roads. It was disingenuous for Commissioner Sharpe to state that directly after my public comment.
Commissioner Sharpe signed off on the TIP as chairman of the MPO. Did he know what he signed?
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| Commissioner Sharpe signed TIP |
The MPO's TIP is a comprehensive list of projects across the spectrum of our local transportation system for the next four to five years. It is not a $1.4 billion list of projects dedicated to roads.
We'll report and let you decide whether Commissioner Sharpe felt compelled to make his statement directly after I spoke to discredit my public comment about the lack of County road funding.
However, the record needs to be corrected because the public deserves the Truth!
We'll report and let you decide whether Commissioner Sharpe felt compelled to make his statement directly after I spoke to discredit my public comment about the lack of County road funding.
However, the record needs to be corrected because the public deserves the Truth!
What is conspicuously missing from the county road budget is any revenue from the CIT tax (Community Investment Tax-the half percent sales tax supposedly going to fund our county's infrastructure). The 30 year sales tax passed in 1996 was bonded out almost entirely 12 years into the tax. The county partied with this gush of dollars in the beginning years and saddled us and our children with the debt payments long after they've left office.
ReplyDeleteYet the same people complaining now about how there's no money left in the tax base to pay for needed road widenings and repairs to existing roads, represent the same interests who pushed for an increased sales tax for roads in the 90s, and then pushed elected officials to spend 30 years worth of tax revenues in just a few years, to build even more fiscally unsustainable roads in the suburbs. (Remember this as you observe today's transportation debate over taxation and resource allocation. These same interests had no problem using a sales tax to force everyone to subsidize suburban road construction, and then to spend all of that money up front to benefit themselves.)
DeleteThe community has known for a long time that it had to finally start planning ahead and face up to the reality of changing times, or this region was going to be f-u-c-k-e-d a few decades later... Well, now the longterm consequences of short term choices have started, and the same special interests that have consistently screwed this region for decades, are still pushing the same old failed infrastructure agenda, which will produce the same failed results.
None of these special interests are willing to admit that their preferred method of infrastructure development flat out doesn't sustain itself over time. At taxation levels that they won't consider "theft", there is not even remotely enough funding available (from all sources combined) to provide for all of the massive roads and highways needed to move 100% of the population, 100% by automobiles driven on roads. Because this region listened to these exact same people for the past 20+ years, the kind of infrastructure that was built here (all roads, all sprawl) the region has never created the kind of more robust local economy that creates the kinds of high paying jobs which in turn create a broad and healthy tax base, which can sustain infrastructure over time, without high tax rates.
Look at Pinellas. After decades of sprawling to every last corner of the county, without ever making a plan for the future, now the county finds itself in the position of being forced to raise taxes year after year, just to keep up with the replacement costs for all of the haphazard sprawl they built that is now crumbling faster than it can be paid for. Does anyone really think that Pinellas would be in such a bad spot if they had a plan all along, and had invested in the right kinds of infrastructure to better grow their employment, hotel and retail bases, which in turn grows the tax base without raising rates?
So long as this region pretends that sound urban planning, and seeking value and cost efficiency from our infrastructure investments is a radical leftwing communist plot, then this region will continue to be a naturally beautiful place that can only provide real economic opportunity and a high quality of life to an increasingly select few,
Every year these issues go unaddressed, this problem will amplify. And no amount of faith, intellectual dishonesty or character assassinations of people who disagree with you will change that.
This post was to correct a statement that was made that is false. However, Dispersion is not bad: "Why are US cities so accessible? Despite the hostility of planners toward the automobile, the secret lies in automobile access. Generally, automobiles are faster than other modes, such as transit, walking and cycling for trips of the lengths required in modern metropolitan areas. The US also has more dispersed (decentralized) employment, which increases access and shortens travel times." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-cox/americas-accessible-citie_b_5768824.html
Delete"high capacity roadways and dispersion of population as well as jobs are also important contributors to the lower congestion levels in the United States." http://www.newgeography.com/content/004504-traffic-congestion-world-10-worst-and-best-cities
I can't wait until his term expires, he is a sellout. He should be ashamed of what he has done. He has completely misrepresented himself to the Republican Party and should at least have the decency to do what Charlie the flip-flopper did and become a democrat consistent with how he has represented his constituency. Good riddance Mr. Sharp!
ReplyDeleteGood riddance to morons with no solution, but to demand that everyone else further subsidize their demonstrably failed lifestyle.
Delete