By David Steinkraus
Journal Times | Posted: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:00 am
YORKVILLE - The Racine County Board on Tuesday night voted 13-10 to approve a resolution supporting a regional transit authority, with reservations.
The resolution is the county's advice to the state Legislature, which is dealing with language in the 2009-11 budget bill creating a regional transit authority for southeastern Wisconsin and two other parts of the state, and allowing those RTAs to impose a sales tax to fund mass transit.
The board's resolution repeats the county's 2007 support of a car rental fee to fund mass transit, but it opposes a sales tax for such funding, opposes an unelected RTA board wielding that taxing power, opposes using taxes raised within the county for transit outside the county, and opposes requiring an RTA to pursue commuter rail because that would deprive area municipalities of the decision.
We need to reduce dependency on foreign oil, and this is the time to move Racine forward and not pull into a shell, said Supervisor Q.A. Shakoor, II.
It sounded much like the people who insisted that the county would gain prosperity by being taxed for a new Milwaukee Brewers stadium, said Supervisor Dan Sharkozy. That is not the same as opposing commuter rail, he said, but as economic times change, people have to shift their priorities.
"This is no time to be growing government. This is the time to be shrinking government," he said.
As the representative of the district bordering the train station, Supervisor Jim Kaplan said he wold support the RTA although he doesn't have full faith in the promises of commuter rail. "I'm sitting on the edge of a knife here, but I have to be in support of this because I'm hopeful this will help the City of Racine, which I represent."
Supervisor Ken Hall said he had looked at property value growth from 2000 to 2007 and found that they grew about 80 percent in the Kenosha and Milwaukee metro areas but only 66 percent in Racine County. That has shifted the cost of county services outward, he said.
"So if we want that to continue a good prescription is to do nothing. Reject the RTA and let our transportation systems continue as they are," Hall said.
Supervisor Russell Clark said that he had heard from so few people that he knocked on doors in his district. "They're saying not now. Not in this economic time," he said.
Supervisor Gaynell Dyess said she had received calls from her own district and others, and they were in support.
"Not one person opposed the sales tax. That really surprised me," she said.
"If this is such a positive thing being brought forward then there should be a referendum," Supervisor Van Wanggaard said.
But the board should support mass transit because Racine is an island, he said, and needs ways to get people on and off it.
Yes there are many questions unanswered and details unknown, said Supervisor Pamela Zenner-Richards. "Let's keep the process moving forward so we can get these questions answered."