Transportation Referendum To Be Voted Upon In November

By a 5 to 4 vote, the Broward County Commission agreed to put on November's ballot a question concerning raising funds to pay for transit and transportation. The ballot question will be whether or not to raise the sales tax 1 cent to pay for these improvements. The vote will be up to the people.

Transportation and transit has long been identified as a major problem within Broward County, growing steadily worse of the years. Additionally, without a dedicated source of revenue, the county does not qualify for Federal or State matching funds, as many other areas throughout the country presently do.

The Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization has planned transportation improvements throughout the county, and presently there is a shortfall of over $10 Billion to implement these plans. Without such a source of revenue, there is virtually no hope of ever trying to solve the transportation issue we face. Delaying any vote at this time would have meant missing the federal funding cycle until 2010, thereby losing out for matching funds for another 4 years.

The average cost to the taxpayer is calculated to average $45/year. Compared with the raising of gasoline by $1/gallon, which will cost approx. $800/year per average driving in a car.

The monies raised will be $260 million/year, and can be bonded to raise sufficient funds now to implement the plan created. The plan, created by People for Progress, using the Broward County MPO plans and Broward County plans, and supported by numerous cities along with the Broward County MPO, is ambitious and needed. However, much more information will be forthcoming to explain to the voters how this tax will address our problems.

The decision to ask for this type of tax, with the consent of the voters, is because under state law, this was the only source of revenue that is available and permitted by the Florida Legislature for such improvements. No other source could be used, and raise anywhere near the monies needed to tackle such a difficult problem.

Funds used will specifically go towards expansion of free Community Shuttle Buses, the construction of several light rail transit lines (State Road 7, FEC & Central East West Corridor), and several Bus Rapid Transit and Express Bus Systems serving the entire the county. Funds will also be available for numerous other transportation matters, as set out in the written plan.

For more information: http://www.keepbrowardmoving.com/