Metro Jacksonville

Eggelletion blasts Chris Smith on Tri-Rail deal

> Posted by Scott Wyman on April 22, 2009 02:34 PM
County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion is strongly questioning a deal brokered by Sen. Chris Smith in Tallahassee this week to charge a $2 rental car fee to support Tri-Rail. Rather than save the commuter train service, the plan dooms it, Eggelletion said Wednesday.

Smith’s deal would allow Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties to impose the fee with a super-majority vote of their county commissions. Voters in each county would have to ratify the fee in 2010.

Eggelletion accuses Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, of not holding out for the best deal possible with legislative leaders. Smith was a swing vote in Central Florida's quest to get its own $1.2 billion commuter train service, called SunRail.

Eggelletion, the county’s go-to guy on Tri-Rail, said Smith should have demanded the $2 fee be allowed without a referendum. He said the chances of voters in each county supporting the fee is remote. And according to him, Tri-Rail can't survive without each county ponying up the money.

“Sometimes you just need to hold firm,” Eggelletion said. “He had all the leverage in the world. He was the swing vote.”

Smith responded that he believes he obtained the best deal possible in committee and that he continues to negotiate as the SunRail legislation moves ahead in the Senate.

He said even if Eggelletion’s concerns are correct about the prospects of voter approval, Broward could collect $18 million for Tri-Rail during the 18 months before a November 2010 referendum. The county is contributing $7 million a year out of general tax revenue to the train service so even 18 months of fee collections would help, Smith said.

“I guess Joe is second-guessing my judgment,” Smith said. “At the time with what I was faced with it, it seemed the best deal I could make.”


Eggelletion said Smith held the upperhand in what happened with SunRail in Transportation and Economic Development Committee. The state stood to lose federal funding for the Orlando rail line, and Eggelletion said that would have embarrassed both Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S Rep. John Mica â€" who got the federal aid.

“He almost is delivering the Senate race to Crist,” Eggelletion said of Smith, noting talk that Crist is considering running for the U.S. Senate to succeed Mel Martinez in 2010. Eggelletion said Crist would not have wanted SunRail legislation to fail because that would anger Central Florida voters who often are key to statewide elections.

The legislation with the $2 surcharge and SunRail funding passed out of the committee on a 4-3 vote.

Tri-Rail is the 72-mile train line that runs from the West Palm Beach area to Miami International Airport, but the three counties are strapped for cash and are threatening to pull their funding. Without the rental car tax infusion, Tri-Rail would scale back drastically.

“This effectively killed Tri-Rail,” Eggelletion said. “Broward will not extend more money, and Tri-Rail cannot do without that. The County Commission is not supportive of this compromise.”

Smith responded that his actions have at least helped shore up Tri-Rail. If he had killed the SunRail legislation in committee, Tri-Rail would stand to gain nothing, he said.


http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/04/eggelletion_blasts_chris_smith.html

QuoteSmith responded that his actions have at least helped shore up Tri-Rail. If he had killed the SunRail legislation in committee, Tri-Rail would stand to gain nothing, he said.

I agree with this statement.  Other than holding out and doing nothing, what was Eggelletion's proposal to deal with Tri-Rail's situation right now?  Because holding out with no alternative in play would only result in killing both rail systems.

This State is so BASS ACKWARD in Transportation, it's just hard to believe, more so when 2 out of every 3 people in it are from large Northern Cities that have had rail forever. Perhaps the attitudes I encountered in Pompano Beach ("Not MY state, I'm retired, don't expect ME to pay for your ______ {FILL IN THE BLANK}, Why should I care about the Glades...etc...?") prevails.

It's like the parking meter solution, everyone agrees with me that it would work, but you don't hear anyone at City Hall talking about it:

For you newbies here, Welcome, I'm the Transit Monster:

Audit the income from the meters on each city block so we'll know where the parking hot spots are.
Remove all meters.
Time signs for all parking downtown, depending on the location or businesses from 15 min to all day.
Take the meter income, assess this to the nearest parking lots and garages, on a per space basis + 15%.
Retain the entire parking division, for enforcement of hours, as well as collections from the various parking lots and garages. (NOBODY loses a job)
Roll the extra 15% directly into fixed rail, Skyway and bus transportation.
Offer Green incentive packages to companies locating downtown WITHOUT building new garages, including dedicated bus, train, or van pool service.
Drop all rules that require X amount of parking for X amount of development within the city core.
JTA removes fare collection from all buses they WILL issue transfers.
Bus pass, tickets on sale in every business in town with a small commission.

Anybody in the City that wants to talk about it give me a call!

OCKLAWAHA

http://www.tri-rail.com/FundOrFail/

petition for funding tri-rail.

QuoteGov. Charlie Crist, has resisted charging the rental car tax without a referendum first.

"My understanding is that the governor has been pretty clear that he wouldn't support the $2 (car rental) fee unless it was a voter referendum, so that adds a wrinkle to the deal and could be a problem for those that support it," said House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton.

The chances for the $2 tax are "not as good as they are in the Senate," said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D- Hallandale Beach. "Unless we pay for commuter rail in South Florida, I'm not in favor of doing it in Orlando. They're standing strong in the Senate, and I'm going to strand strong with them in the House."

Tri-Rail, launched in 1989, is the 72-mile train line that runs from the West Palm Beach area to Miami International Airport. It serves 15,000 riders a day, which is twice as many as it had in 2005.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-chris-smith-profile-04212009,0,6738783.story

Holding a referendum in Florida on an additional tax or fee while having full knowledge that it will likely fail.......... is no support for a dedicated funding source for tri-rail.

We should not look at this as an "all or nothing" situation.  The deal brokered by Smith could end up giving Tri-Rail as much as +$50 million in the 18 months leading up to a referendum.

Why not take the money Smith's deal can deliver in the short term (assuming a referendum in 18 months fails) and continue to push for other funding sources as well?  As you mentioned regarding HSR federal stimulus dollars, lets not leave available money on the table.

Quote from: Ocklawaha on April 30, 2009, 01:41:06 PM
This State is so BASS ACKWARD in Transportation, it's just hard to believe

it could be worse....we could be Georgia...where MARTA has no guaranteed revenue stream!

I agree except that Georgia has a first rate plan coming down the pike to put regional AMTRAK rail into almost every corner of the State.

Say, TUFSU1... What do you know about the Visioning Charettes? Wonder if we could cook one up on streetcars?  

OCKLAWAHA

Good question...if you are referring to the LRTP Visioning, it was set up to reach consensus on an alternative land use plan for the region's growth....but once the MPO chooses a land use scenario, then they will start working on an official list of needed and cost feasible projects....maybe there woulc be an opportunity to have a discussion on streetcars, commuter rail, etc. as part of that.

Another option would be to hook up with Margo Moehring from the NEFRC and get tagged onto the regional visioning effort that is happening as part of Reailty Check

http://www.realitycheckfirstcoast.com/

Perhaps the two of us can look into it. I was just reading someplace of a city that was or just did a "Streetcar Visioning", then read the article on HSR that I just posted where the USDOT wants all of us to do some railroad visioning. Seems to me Jacksonville would have the HSR in the can if we could have a "Vision" to present to USDOT, streetcar would be the berrys on the pie.  

OCKLAWAHA

Quote from: thelakelander on April 30, 2009, 02:45:06 PM
We should not look at this as an "all or nothing" situation.  The deal brokered by Smith could end up giving Tri-Rail as much as +$50 million in the 18 months leading up to a referendum.

Why not take the money Smith's deal can deliver in the short term (assuming a referendum in 18 months fails) and continue to push for other funding sources as well?  As you mentioned regarding HSR federal stimulus dollars, lets not leave available money on the table.

Same can be said of the Sun Rail backers,......it's easy to remove the referendum requirement, but they just don't seem to budge. Maybe they are the ones who should realize it's foolish not to address legitimate rail concerns, thereby leaving available money on the table.

1.

QuoteGelber, a U.S. Senate candidate, said he wanted to support Tri-Rail, but could not because SunRail was too expensive. "I have a principled position against SunRail," he said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-sunrail-goes-down-043009,0,3858821.story?track=rss

QuoteOf the four senators representing parts of Volusia County, only Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, backed the deal in the vote that was cast. Sens. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, Jim King, R-Jacksonville, and Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, opposed it.

King cited costs and his concerns about the liability arrangement.

2.

QuoteThe proposal that failed today would have shielded CSX from up to $200 million of financial responsibility for accidents involving commuters and other non-CSX personnel in the corridor - regardless of who is at fault.

Lawmakers who supported the deal said it was reasonable because there would be no commuters on the line unless the state put them there.

Opponents said it was unconscionable.

They proposed a hypothetical situation in which a school bus crossing the tracks was hit by a CSX freight train.

"Bus, little bodies, weeping moms and dads. The state is responsible, right?" said Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico.

Supportive lawmakers have worked hard to make changes to get the project through the Senate. They've eliminated language granting state sovereign immunity to the companies hired for SunRail operations, dispatch, maintenance and security.

The amendment proposed today also included language that would have let the Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county commissions create a $2-per-day rental-car surcharge for transportation projects.

South Florida lawmakers seeking a dedicated source of money for the Tri-Rail commuter system in those counties wanted a surcharge to help pay for Tri-Rail. But a proposal to require voter approval subsequent to each county commission's adoption of the charge complicated efforts to get their support.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/breakingnews/srail043009.htm

3.

QuoteThe apparent death knell of the train, however, was SunRail's inability to win the support of a group of South Florida Democrats.

Constantine tried to curry their favor by offering them a $2-a-day surcharge on rental cars. The money it would generate, estimated at $50 million over an 18-month period, would help offset operating losses of the Tri-Rail commuter train that parallels Interstate 95 in West Palm, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The catch was the tax would have to be approved by a super-majority of the affected county commissions, followed by a voter referendum in 2010.

The South Florida delegation â€" at least, the Democratic members â€" did not want the referendum, or at the very least, have it delayed to 2014. A late-filed amendment offered that, but it was defeated by the 23-17 count.

At least four South Florida Democrats -- Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale; Dan Gelber of Miami Beach; Nan Rich of Weston; and Fredrica Wilson of Miami â€" voted against the measure.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-sunrail-goes-down-043009,0,3858821.story?track=rss

Referendum, liability agreement, CSX is a bad boy, Mica is poison, etc.  None of this really matters now.  What ever happened to the art of compromise?  Both sides get an F- in my book and should share the blame.  We have to get passed the idea of drawing lines in the sand and throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  It really sucks to be Orlando.  Its a community full of sprawl forced to start the entire process over again for the second time in a decade.  I also feel bad for Tri-Rail supporters, employees and users.  That system has finally come around and now service will appear to be cut and people will lose their jobs unless someone has a secret pot of gold to share.  Nevertheless, its a great day for places like Charlotte, Seattle and DC.  I'm sure they'll be willing to use our tax dollars to make their plans reality.  Luckily for Jax, we have local money set aside for rapid transit.  Its not enough to build anything large, but it can at least get us off the ground without immediate federal help.  Hopefully, we'll use it on the right thing before its lost too.

QuoteLuckily for Jax, we have local money set aside for rapid transit.

For now Lake... for now.  You know that cash is burnin a hole in someones pocket... :)