Gas Tax Increase/Extension

[Captain Zissou]

I think a gas tax is a great way to raise funds, but if JTA took a fair and balanced approach when considering transit options.  Their view is so skewed towards road building and buses that they'll spend billions trying to road build their way out of the current mess.

If I had the power, I'd let them starve a little so that they would have to be more innovative in their thinking and consider lower cost alternatives, which would undoubtedly bring them to the conclusion of rail.

[stjr]

Or, 9B?  Or, the Outer Beltway?  JTA will consider more gas tax money an endorsement of these projects it supports.

nice try...but neither 9B or the Outer Beltway are to be funded by JTA...or the 6-cent local gas tax for that matter!

I know that Tufsu.  But, JTA is an active partner in supporting these projects.  More taxes for roads just encourages them to push for projects like this so JTA can perpetuate it's current incarnation to build more roads to connect to these.  It's a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" with FDOT.  They feed off of each other.  A road building fraternity - not unlike the Moose or Elks.

[CS Foltz]

[qoute] A road building fraternity - not unlike the Moose or Elks.[qoute]......too true stjr! The part about "scratching backs" is really the heart of the matter!

[spuwho]

JTA is the lead agency on the RTA being studied as they are the largest entity in NE Florida.

My hope is that they would get an RTA in place where JTA maintains it authority in Duval, but no further. Any regional projects have to be approved by the regional transit board, of which JTA participates in, but cannot completely control. ie: 7 of 12 board seats, but 9 votes needed to pass spending on projects.

Larger taxation area, but more accountability and less provincialism. JTA has a voice, larger since they serve a bigger area, but they can't dominate it and would need to work with others well to get programs passed.

[CS Foltz]

spuwho.......I agree! JTA can not manage Jacksonville and I can not see them controling a larger area than they already do! As to "more accountability", there appears to be little accountability now and some one somewhere stepping up would be nice,  but it has not happened yet and don't see anything on the horizen to change that view!

[JMac]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-06-21/story/jta-will-not-ask-jacksonville-city-council-more-tax-revenue

Blaylock said he floated the idea to generate discussion and determine if the political will existed to do something. He’s decided that now is not the right time.

I guess I can continue filling up in Duval.

[stjr]

Here is the full article for the record.

By the way, it seems strange that a PERMANENT mass transit system would be funded by a TEMPORARY gas tax.  Is that correct?  What kind of funding scheme is that?

JTA will not ask for gas tax hike
Source URL: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-06-21/story/jta-will-not-ask-jacksonville-city-council-more-tax-revenue

By Larry Hannan

Weeks after floating the idea of asking Jacksonville’s City Council for an additional 5-cent gasoline tax, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is tabling the idea.

JTA Executive Director Michael Blaylock  said Monday he will not ask for the new tax this year. It would have added a nickel to every gallon of gasoline sold in Duval County and been used for road construction projects.

Blaylock said he floated the idea to generate discussion and determine if the political will existed to do something. He decided that now is not the right time.

“With the JEA rate increase, and the recession,” he said, “we need to be really sensitive to the needs of our community.”

Most members of the City Council were somewhere between skeptical and outright opposed to the idea when contacted this month by The Times-Union.

“I’m glad to see that idea is being dropped,” Councilman Don Redman  said. “It was never going to get through council.”

Blaylock said he has not abandoned the plan, which would generate about $25 million a year in extra revenue for JTA.

“After we get through [this year’s] budget process we’ll start to talk about it again,” he said while conceding that the economy will have to get better before action occurs.

Blaylock will ask the council to approve an extension of JTA’s existing 6-cent gas tax, which is scheduled to expire in 2016.

“I think extending the gas tax is more realistic than a new tax,” said Councilman Warren Jones.  â€œBut this is going to be a brutal budget year, and we’re going to have to look at what the impact of extending the gas tax would be.”

City services are going to be cut, and JTA shouldn’t assume that a gas tax extension will sail through the council, Jones said.

Councilman Stephen Joost  said he wanted to go over JTA’s spending and long-term expansion plans before approving an extension.

Joost said he also had concerns about gas taxes as a long-term source of revenue because people are driving less than they used to, generating less revenue for agencies like JTA.

He also wants to talk to JTA about looking into new, green technologies that might help cut costs.

Councilman John Crescimbeni  said he would vote against an extension. JTA should go before the voters and let them, not the council, decide, he said.

“The public was told this would only be for 10 years” in 1986, Crescimbeni said, “and then it was extended for 20 more years.”

The tax generates about $30 million a year for JTA.

The agency said it needs the extension to pay for existing operations like the bus service, Skyway and paratransit service.

If the tax expires, those transportation services would have to be cut back, said Blair Fishburn,  JTA chief financial officer and deputy executive director.

Blaylock declined to discuss exactly what those cutbacks might involve.

The gas tax extension will be discussed during budget hearings the council will hold later this summer. JTA usually presents its budget to the city each year even though the council doesn’t have to approve it, because JTA is a state agency.

[spuwho]

If it is any consolation, Councilman Joost (CFO of Firehouse Subs) says he would like to see JTA's finance's before reviewing any taxes for them. I agree.

JTA is "bonded out" right now. This means that they can no longer sell construction bonds to build roads as they no longer have any tax revenue (beyond what they get today) to pay the debt service.

Since most of these bonds are of the 30 year kind, I would like to see which ones are paying off first when the initial taxes were approved.

Also, most people forget that the original road tax (Hazouri) was passed to eliminate the toll bridges. They had to refinance the toll based bonds with tax revenue bonds to do that. If I am correct, there were 10 years left on those bonds when they were refinanced.

One thing JTA needs to make clear, there are tax revenues for operations (buses, Skyway), and tax revenues for bond debt service (construction). I don't like how they throw out numbers without a good explanation.

People like seeing taxes for specific purposes (ie: TBJP) that foster results. Nebulous tax requests like JTA's will always fall flat.

[thelakelander]

I would like to see these numbers in greater detail as well.  I think now is a critical period for JTA in general.  They need to publicly prove their worth before this city approves the extension of anything.

[stjr]

I would like to see these numbers in greater detail as well.  I think now is a critical period for JTA in general.  They need to publicly prove their worth before this city approves the extension of anything.

If it is any consolation, Councilman Joost (CFO of Firehouse Subs) says he would like to see JTA's finance's before reviewing any taxes for them. I agree.

You can tell JTA has something to hide when they haven't publicly posted their financials in over a year and a half on their web site:  http://www.jtafla.com/AboutJTA/showPage.aspx?Sel=32

Why not?  Are they embarrassed about what they will reveal?  Is this just another manifestation of the JTA culture regarding information transparency?

Councilman Joost and friends should also look at JTA salaries and benefits, especially pensions, and compare them to City employees and the marketplace at large.

[Charles Hunter]

Isn't JTA a state agency?  If so, then their employees are on the State Retirement System.

[stjr]

Isn't JTA a state agency?  If so, then their employees are on the State Retirement System.

I don't know.  If they are, maybe that should be re-examined as well.  For-profit companies are abandoning pension plans in droves as they are finding out that managing savings for employees and making guaranteed lifetime promises decades in advance is a very risky and difficult proposition.  Government should take heed and consider doing the same.  If people want financial security, employees should do their own S-A-V-ING and investing (see 401K).  And, don't count on others to do it for you.

[tufsu1]

Isn't JTA a state agency?  If so, then their employees are on the State Retirement System.

yes