Wake leaders give up on transit tax

RALEIGH -- Wake County commissioners have given up on the prospect of asking voters this year to approve a half-cent sales tax to pay for beefed-up bus and rail transit service.

Orange and Durham leaders say they still might consider holding their votes in November.

But it will be May 2012, at the earliest, before Wake voters are asked to consider a tax increase to support transit.

Transportation planners in Wake are running out of time to map detailed bus routes and train plans that would need several levels of approval - by county commissioners and 12 city and town boards - before voters could be asked to pay for them.

"It's not going to be this fall because there is no plan yet," Tony Gurley of Raleigh, a Wake County commissioner, said Wednesday. "That's the big issue."

And, said David Cooke, the Wake County manager, voters might not want to consider a new transit tax this year when state and local governments are preparing to slash spending.

"In the public's mind, it's a tough sell on why - if you're in a position to cut service or lay off employees - to have a conversation about adding a new revenue stream so you can do something new," Cooke said.

Transit advocates across the region had hoped to see all three counties vote together this fall on whether to raise the sales tax to finance a network of better bus schedules and new rail transit lines - either rush-hour commuter trains or frequent light-rail trains, or both.

State law authorizes voters in the three Triangle counties to pay for transit improvements by taxing themselves an additional 5 cents on every $10 sale. The counties can act together or separately if their respective boards of commissioners agree on transit service improvements and on a fiscal plan, and if they vote to hold a referendum.

Planners are mapping routes that would serve residents of each county individually and also connect the region together. Orange and Durham officials are developing plans to build up bus service on U.S. 15-501 from Durham to Chapel Hill, then build electric-powered light-rail or a bus rapid transit line between the two cities.

"I wouldn't want to be held back by Wake if in fact our two counties can agree on this," Durham Mayor Bill Bell said. "Of course I still want endpoints in Orange and Wake - I'm not getting away from that."

Alice Gordon of Chapel Hill, an Orange County commissioner, agreed with Bell.

"I would much prefer that all three counties go together," Gordon said. "But if they're not ready to roll out in Wake, then Orange and Durham might still have something to do."

Skeptical voters

Wake's Republican-dominated board has been more circumspect about transit improvements than its counterparts in Durham and Orange. Gurley said he doubted that trains would be acceptable in a Wake County plan, but he hopes to develop some kind of transit plan that he can endorse and put before voters.

And any plan would have a hard time winning voter approval this year, he said.

"I don't think the economy has recovered sufficiently that the people are going to be willing to vote for a half-cent sales tax increase this fall," Gurley said. "And I don't know that it will improve enough by next spring."

Regional transit officials say they won't push for votes before local leaders are ready.

"We're going to work with the commissioners on whatever timetable they think works best for them," said Wib Gulley, general counsel for Triangle Transit, the three-county bus service and planning agency. "We certainly hope we don't lose years, because we think this is a matter of economic competitiveness for the region. But we understand the need for flexibility."