Bistate tax plan for transportation gains momentum
Rob Roberts
Staff Writer
The idea of a bistate sales tax for public transit is gaining traction in the metropolitan area, supporters said.
In November, voters rejected a quarter-cent bistate tax that would have raised about $1 billion for stadium renovations and the arts. Yet David Warm, executive director of Mid-America Regional Council, is optimistic that Kansas and Missouri lawmakers will authorize a half-cent of new bistate tax authority for transportation.
They might not do it during the 2005 legislative sessions, however, Warm said.
"We're going to have to do a lot of exploration with legislators before we set a firm timetable," he said. "Our intent is to introduce the concept this session, but whether we get it done in a single pass remains a wide-open question."
The current plan, which the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is promoting in the business community, calls for bistate sales tax financing for MARC's Smart Moves regional transit plan, trails and traffic-management improvements.
"There seems to be broad public consensus about the first two of those," Warm said. "Our plan now is to begin broadening the conversation to include the legislators."
MARC had considered asking legislators to amend the current bistate tax-enabling legislation to allow expenditures for transit as well as sports and arts projects.
But council officials have decided to distance the transportation proposal from past bistate controversies by seeking separate enabling legislation and referring to the tax by another name -- "a regional funding mechanism."
Another difference from the bistate tax killed in November is that the new tax would not have to pass in Johnson, Jackson and Clay counties to take effect. It could be collected in any of the seven metro counties where voters approve it.
Kansas Senate Vice President John Vratil, R-Leawood, said any tinkering with bistate legislation this session could kill the potential for future bistate taxes.
"I think that's clearly a possibility, if not a probability," Vratil said. "The conservative wing of the Republican Party is much stronger in the House than it was before the elections, and the conservative position tends to be anti-bistate, anti-any tax."
But even conservative Kansas Sen. Kay O'Connor, R-Olathe, said she liked the idea of regional financing for public transit.
"The current bistate compact is nothing more than greedy Missouri people eyeing the wealthy folks in Johnson County and saying, 'We want some,'" she said.
O'Connor said she would support a bistate tax for public transit if Kansas and Missouri money is kept separate and under the stewardship of elected boards.
"I think metropolitan transportation is much more sellable as an idea for bistate than anything else I've heard," O'Connor said.
Missouri state Rep. Yvonne Wilson, D-Kansas City, agreed.
"Many of my constituents have a very difficult time getting to and from work, getting to grocery stores, getting to their doctors," Wilson said. "But before I render my support, I want to make sure it will positively impact the core of the city and my constituents east of Troost."
Warm said Smart Moves would "connect literally every corner of the region." It calls for seven bus rapid-transit routes along the big corridors, nonstop freeway express service, additional local routes and either commuter rail or dedicated high-occupancy vehicle lanes along Interstate 35 in Johnson County and Interstate 70 in Eastern Jackson County.
Warm said Smart Moves would build on systems operated by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Johnson County Transit and Unified Government Transit.
The cost of the program has been estimated at $155 million a year. MARC hopes to raise about $65 million of that total regionally.
Mark Huffer, general manager of the KCATA, said Kansas City's transportation system is limited by its financing scheme.
"We are unique in that our only dedicated funding source is the largest city in our urbanized area," Huffer said. "Virtually all other transit systems are funded on more of a regional basis. Usually, it's at least a countywide tax. Many times it's a multiple-county tax. And there are some examples of bistate taxes."
Reach Rob Roberts at 816-421-5900 or
rroberts@bizjournals.com.
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.