Commentary: County could leave regional transit authority

Jack Sullivan | The New Mexican

5/3/2008 - 5/3/08

The North Central Regional Transit District, of which Santa Fe County is a member, has proposed a one-eighth percent gross-receipts tax in the four counties it serves — Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Taos. The tax is both premature and excessive. It is based on a consultant-compiled wish list of services, not a demand-based analysis or an evaluation of unmet need. In addition, no public hearings were held to discuss need for the tax or its size.

On April 29, the Santa Fe County Commission discussed a resolution to withdraw from the district. Because of statutory restrictions, the county cannot modify or reject the tax proposal. Mayor David Coss spoke in opposition to the tax, stating that it was not a good time for such an imposition on city residents and it did not represent a comprehensive planning approach to transportation and transit needs in the city and county, particularly in light of the Rail Runner commuter train, which is expected to arrive by the end of the year. There are several important issues:

• Santa Fe County's priority transit needs are in Eldorado, the Community College District, the Route 14 area and connecting service with the Rail Runner. City and county planning and transit staffs have estimated about $450,000 is sufficient to handle these in the near term.

• The one-eighth percent GRT proposed by the transit district will cost Santa Fe County taxpayers $4.6 million per year of the $8 million total which would be raised. This is 10 times the amount needed. Could the remaining $4 million in taxes be better used for other public needs in Santa Fe County?

• Only $3.9 million of the $4.6 million in GRT will be used in Santa Fe County — a loss to county taxpayers of $700,000 each year. Santa Fe County will end up subsidizing Rio Arriba County at a rate of 208 percent and Taos County at 239 percent.

• The transit district has been unresponsive to Santa Fe County's needs. For a year, it has been unable to initiate a modest $100,000 bus route program for the Community College District and Route 14 area. Given this track record, how can it handle an $8 million-a-year program?

• The transit district has only been able to attract about $1 million per year in federal funds. The advantage of a regional transit district is its ability to leverage 80 percent federal funds for rolling stock and50 percent federal funds for operations. Any service plan should only expand as fast as federal funds can support it. If we agree to fund transit almost completely with local dollars, the federal funds will go elsewhere, making it more cost-effective for Santa Fe County to contract directly for its needs with the city and the state, thus avoiding the high cost of the middle-man.
  

The key issue identified by the county at its April 29 commission meeting was the lack of communication and cooperation between New Mexico Department of Transportation and the regional transit district regarding Rail Runner connecting services. This is evidenced by the fact that the regional transit district's proposed gross-receipts tax would be in addition to another one-eighth percent gross-receipts tax for Rail Runner operations that has been proposed by the governor and NMDOT. That would create two transit authorities serving Santa Fe County, resulting in double taxation and bureaucratic inefficiency.

The resolution to withdraw from the district was tabled for a month to provide planners an opportunity to craft a county transportation plan that everyone can support, including the governor and NMDOT — a plan that includes Santa Fe County as key participant, not just a tax collector. The transit district's executive director, however, advised the commission that the transit district will proceed with the tax initiative despite the recommendation of the mayor and county planning staff that the initiative be withdrawn for now.

This action could very well lead to Santa Fe County's withdrawal from the regional transit district and the loss of a unique opportunity for coordinated state and local long-range transportation planning.

Jack Sullivan is the chairman of the Santa Fe County Commission.