RACINE - The failure of commuter rail to make the state budget was a punch in the solar plexus for advocates who hoped to build the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Metra extension.

The state budget finalized Friday did not include a funding mechanism for KRM. Without legislation, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority cannot raise the existing car rental fee in this region from $2 to $15. That fee was to have funded the local portion of capital and operating costs.

Any shred of life left for KRM after Friday was squeezed out Monday afternoon. Rep. James Kreuser, D-Kenosha, offered a budget amendment in a special Conference Committee meeting to put KRM funding into the budget.

After a long discussion, the eight-member committee rejected the amendment and approved the final budget package without KRM. The four Democrats voted yes and the four Republicans voted no.

KRM was touted as a way to spark economic growth and redevelopment around the nine stations. It was also sought by most businesses as a way to recruit talent from a wider area. Advocates say it would have made the region more attractive to employers, and at least one study said it would also increase tourism.

"I don't know how the opponents of KRM can't see the value of KRM to our community," said Jody Karls, the City of Racine's appointed RTA member. "It's paramount to making our community look more attractive to other folks. And, really, I am bewildered at how people don't see that."

Barring an amazing reversal in the not-too-distant future, the Legislature's failure to approve the car rental fee in Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee counties has doomed an application for a critical federal grant.

KRM would cost an estimated $198 million to build, and half of that was to come from a New Start grant from the Federal Transit Authority. Karls said the most important factor in getting a New Start grant is proof of a stable local funding source.

Mayor Gary Becker said Monday that he will meet with Gov. Jim Doyle Friday afternoon about KRM and said the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities will push for regional transportation legislation statewide.

The Alliance, Becker said, favors using a sales tax, "which is the right way to fund this whole thing. So there is still a chance. I have no intention to let it die." Racine County would require about a 0.2 percent sales tax for KRM, he said, or 2 cents on a $10 purchase.

Lost opportunity

Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce President Roger Caron was among the most downcast about KRM's state budget fate.

"I have really had an empty feeling in my stomach," Caron said, "… because I know that project would have brought a tremendous amount of value to our community, our employers, our inner city, just about

everyone."

"It's a not a panacea for all of our ills," Caron continued, "but it was one of those projects that … down the road, you could have said, 'This was a very important addition to our community.' "

Caron said the defeat was especially frustrating because the car rental fee was deemed a politically feasible funding method for the local portion; an estimated 80 percent would be paid by visitors at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport.

That argument didn't convince State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, whose opposition to the rental fee helped set the stage for KRM's defeat. The measure died in the Joint Finance Committee when Vos, a committee member, voted against a rental fee for KRM.

"I still think KRM would be a good thing for eastern Racine County and have a positive economic benefit - although I think it's probably less than supporters would say," Vos said Monday.

But he repeated his position that before KRM is built, voters should authorize a better funding mechanism, such as a sales tax, via referendum.

He accused supporters of being unwilling to consider other funding options.

"Now it seems that not being willing to compromise means it will not go forward, which is too bad," he said.