Lawrence public transit system saved

By Ryan McGeeney

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Kansan has partnered with KUJH to produce multimedia content for this story. View a broadcast related to the transit initiative here.

After months of wrangling and anxiety about the future of public transit in Lawrence, it appears as though the T will live to ride another day.

Voters overwhelmingly elected to approve the 0.2 percent sales tax needed to continue funding both the general public buses and the paratransit system, which caters specifically to disabled and elderly users, after Jan. 1 of next year. Voters also approved a 0.05 percent sales tax to provide a maintenance and bus replacement fund for the fleet, as well as a 0.3 percent sales tax to fund public infrastructure improvements.

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The 0.2 percent sales tax, which appeared on voter ballots as “question 2,” received 70.29 percent support. The 0.05 percent sales tax — question 3 on the ballot — received 68.81 percent support.

The city transit system, which was previously funded through property taxes after its inception in 1999, will now be primarily supported by a 0.2 percent sales tax that will take effect April 1, 2009.

Lisa-Marie Wright, Overland Park doctoral student and campaign coordinator for the Save the T campaign, said she felt vindicated by Tuesday’s results.

“Voters obviously decided that public transit is important to our community, and voted to support it,” Wright said.

Wright began working with the campaign in August, after organizers received a $5,000 start-up grant from the American Public Transportation Association. The decision to hire a coordinator was made shortly after the Lawrence City Commission announced the fundamental change in how the transit system would be funded.

As county results began rolling into the Douglas County Courthouse about 8 p.m., cautious excitement was palpable throughout the small crowd that had gathered around the projection screen on one side of the rotunda, witnessing periodic updates that brought the tax issues ever closer to fruition.

“I’ve lived in Lawrence a long, long, long time,” said C.J. Brune, business manager for the KU School of Education, and a KU employee for nearly 35 years. “And this is the best election night in a long, long, long time.”

Brune said she had enthusiastically supported the two sales taxes that would likely secure the transit system for the next decade.

“Transit is one of the most critical things a community can offer,” Brune said. “Kansas City is about to pass a light rail system and we were about to take a step back. As much as I hate sales tax, because it’s so regressive, I voted to keep the bus.”

David Corliss, Lawrence city manager, said he found the vote a strong show of support for public transit. He said the city commission would begin discussing results of the elections at the next meeting on Nov. 11, when commissioners will look at ordinances necessary to enact the sales taxes in April, and finalize renewal contracts with MV Transportation.

City commissioner Mike Amyx said that most of his contact with voters throughout the past two years left little doubt in his mind that the tax initiatives would pass.

“I think that one of the things that is incumbent upon me as a commissioner is to make sure that we have the best transit system we can have,” Amyx said. “One that’s efficient, one that’s dependable, and one that can get people in and around our community.”

Because the T, which according to the city provides about 1,200 rides each day, will continue to run, the KU Park and Ride system will also remain intact. Although the five-bus system is technically part of the KU on Wheels fleet, which is funded and maintained by the University, Park and Ride funding relies in part on federal dollars, the receipt of which is contingent on Lawrence’s own bus system. Had the sales tax proposals failed to pass, the University would have had to either surrender the buses or buy out the federal share of the system at a cost of $1 million.

The next hurdle for transit in Lawrence is to begin the process of merging the city transit system with the KU on Wheels fleet. The city recently signed a letter of intent to merge the two systems by July 2009, and representatives from the University, Student Senate and the city have been meeting since September to discuss multiple merger scenarios between the two fleets.

— — Edited by Arthur Hur

Comments

Mthompson (anonymous) says...

So instead of stepping up and teaching the Lawrence government a valuable lesson about fiscal responsibility and managing city infrastructure within their means, voters have encouraged the practice of just dipping into the bottomless trough of public taxation whenever money gets tight.

November 5, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sjschlag (anonymous) says...

"So instead of stepping up and teaching the Lawrence government a valuable lesson about fiscal responsibility and managing city infrastructure within their means, voters have encouraged the practice of just dipping into the bottomless trough of public taxation whenever money gets tight."

Voting NO for these sales taxes wouldn't have taught anyone anything- it would have shut down our bus system.

If you want to "teach the city commission a lesson"- do so during city elections in April. Vote in a new commission that will be fiscally more responsible.

November 5, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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