Richland County Transportation Sales Tax

[uscgop2003]

Looks like County Council will consider final approval this proposal tonight. residents get a chance to weight in on it. I'm interested to see what people say. I suspect it will go well. I think that people are not opposed to a tax when they can clearly see why its needed and where the money will go.

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[CorgiMatt]

They'll come up with something.

[CarolinaSouth]

^^^^

that's the problem...they came up with something already...Them not passing the bill is terrible...i think it's time for the people to purge the county officials for people that actually have a more "can-do" attitude about things....now watch how they pass a bandaid bill that will just push this back for 2 to 3yrs or to an re-election year or either cut stuff out.

[Spartan]

They'll come up with something.

[krazeeboi]

This was an absolutely irresponsible move. The article in The State said that council member Val Hutchinson said, "We couldn't have picked a worse time to raise the costs of living for our citizens...This has gotten totally out of control. I think it is reckless for County Council to approve this." You've GOT to be kidding me. In a time when gas prices are rising with no relief in sight, you're telling me that this is the worst time to provide citizens with alternate ways of transportation??? She needs to be ousted from her post. Furthermore, she makes it sound like council was voting to pass the tax itself. Put the referendum on the ballot and let the people decide if it's worth it. They're denying the citizens the opportunity to let their voices be heard.

What's also bad is that council spent two years and $500,000 crafting the plan to spend $521 million that also would have paved roads, built bike lanes, and removed the railroad crossings on Assembly Street. And then you throw all that money down the drain by voting against it? Insane.

[BrasilnSC]

I completely agree. Let the residents of Richland County decide. I believe the funds from this tax would have taken Columbia to the next level or at least close to some of our piers in terms of transportation. Now we are just going to fall further behind.

What pisses me off even more is that after contacting my county representative Kit Smith, she told me she was in full support of this, yet voted against it.

[waccamatt]

This is horrible. I read an article last night that said the county was going to try to exempt groceries from the tax and keep the plan intact by extending the term from 8 to 10 years. I log on here today and see they changed their mind. This is a travesty! I will be encouraging everyone I know to contact their county councilmen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[dobboard]

What pisses me off even more is that after contacting my county representative Kit Smith, she told me she was in full support of this, yet voted against it. mad.gif

[uscgop2003]

I completely agree. Let the residents of Richland County decide. I believe the funds from this tax would have taken Columbia to the next level or at least close to some of our piers in terms of transportation. Now we are just going to fall further behind.

What pisses me off even more is that after contacting my county representative Kit Smith, she told me she was in full support of this, yet voted against it.

[dobboard]

So that begs the question, why was Kit Smith out of town when such an important vote was taking place?

[uscgop2003]

So that begs the question, why was Kit Smith out of town when such an important vote was taking place?

[waccamatt]

Council normally meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month. This was a special called meeting and not on a normal meeting date. I assume it was another commitment made before the special meeting was scheduled.

With this issue now dead, the question is "Where do we go from here?" The county paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a study, and now there is no funding source to implement its recommendations.

[sonofaque86]

Are there any capitals or cities Columbia's size without public transportation? I know they won't let the bus system go. Couldn't they find another way beside the tax?

[uscgop2003]

Are there any capitals or cities Columbia's size without public transportation? I know they won't let the bus system go. Couldn't they find another way beside the tax?

[CorgiMatt]

They'll come up with something.

[Spartan]

My guess is that county council will toss this hot potato back to the city and let them deal with it, since the city orchestrated the original takeover tat let SCANA off the hook.

[Captain Worley]

Maybe someone could make SCE&G take the bus system back over. The way I recall, it was unconstitutional for Columbia to do so.

[Spartan]

I doubt it. Transit is accepted as a responsibility of government. Besides, regardless of Richland County Council's poor decision making skills, SCE&G did a bad job of providing minimal service. As a "forced" private operator, they are not going to be inclined to provide anything beyond basic service. Our best chance for good transit service is going to be via the current CMRTA structure.

[Captain Worley]

I thought SCE&G did a fairly good job until they decided to pawn it off on Columbia. That''s when they started cutting routes and basically stopped maintaining their buses. I think they were doing that so that they looked like bad providers. I guess it worked.

[Spartan]

The old CTA system was replaced about a year or two after I started at Carolina, and I have distinct memories of thinking the busses looked much better after CMRTA took over. I'll admit I am not as familiar with SCE&G's operations, but I'm basing my opinion on Duke Power's operation of Greenville and Spartanburg's systems- both of which were and are quite bad. Spartanburg's has only been changed slightly from Duke's operation, so you can get a feel for what a power company's funding priorities are like.

[BrasilnSC]

I remember the buses when SCE&G was responsible. They were falling apart and often seen broken down on the side of the road. Not sure about actual service, but it couldn't have been any better.

[Spartan]

A key part of transit service is the busses themselves. Nobody wants to ride in an old crappy bus, and you'll never gain choice riders that way.

[Captain Worley]

I do have to give CMRTA credit for keeping their buses looking nice.

[SCxpBrussel]

I contacted members of County Council and exchanged emails with one Transit Referendum opponent. This Councilmember claims that "working families are already hurting enough" and that the plan had unintentionally grown too large. This Councilmember dodged my point that the council wasn't levying a tax but simply allowing the public to decide for itself--although they did point out that the voters have confidence in this person's judgment, as evidenced by the recent 80% primary victory.

There is an interesting op-ed in today's The State about Metro Columbia's sporadic, fiefdom-like patchwork of local governments. Lack of cooperation, regional-level thinking, and willingness to let go of local neighborhood turf war mentality is strangling Columbia and preventing it from becoming the great city she should be.

[krazeeboi]

"Working families are hurting enough already." So that means that we forego increasing vehicle capacity for roads, meaning that cars idle in traffic longer and thus burn more gas; building more sidewalks so that people have the option to walk instead of getting in their cars; securing a more dedicated funding source for bus service, which helps many people get to their jobs every day; and laying the foundation for commuter rail, which gives people another transit option and would help them save on gas. Refusing to place the referendum for the transit tax on the ballot is short-sighted, irresponsible, and is represents the total opposite of the democratic process. If that council member thinks that the county can't afford this tax because "working families are hurting enough already," what will he/she think if gas prices hit $5 gallon? You've got to start planning for the future some time, even if it may hurt just a little in the short-term. No progress is made without sacrifice.