MPO considers re-hiring consultant for further RTA studies

By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

At their meeting on June 24, 2009, the MPO Policy Board considered whether to spend additional funds on hiring a consultant to help with the formation of a Regional Transit Authority (RTA), viewed the results of two surveys conducted on the Charlottesville Transit Service and endorsed a letter asking for earlier service for an additional passenger train that will commence in October.

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This chart from the VHB report on the RTA shows potential transit corridors for either an expanded CTS or the proposed authority. Click to enlarge. (Source: VHB)

The basic framework for the proposed RTA has been put in place through work conducted by the firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, and specifically, transportation expert Frank Spielberg. The City and County both contributed $50,000 to match a $90,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to pay for their services. 

Their 45-page report outlines several different scenarios by which such an authority might be formed, and details different governing structures under which it might operate. Even more intricate details about how the community could proceed are featured in the 12 appendices that accompany the report.

In August 2008, the City Council and the Board of Supervisors affirmed their willingness to create the RTA during a joint work session. They set up a working group of two Councilors and two Supervisors to help guide the process. Throughout the fall of 2008, this group spent most of their time at several meetings to determine what sort of legislation should be pursued. They decided to ask the General Assembly to pass two pieces of legislation. The first would create the RTA (HB2158), and the second (HB2161) was for permission to ask citizens in a referendum if they would support a sales tax increase of up to 1 cent to fund the RTA’s operations. The General Assembly approved the first bill, but did not approve the second.

On May 14, 2009, the working group met once more to discuss whether it was worthwhile to continue pursuing the RTA’s creation without the favored method of funding. At that meeting, consensus was reached to have Barlow and her staff prepare recommendations on RTA governance issues and to draft a budget to retain a consultant to guide the RTA’s formation and system design. That consensus was ratified by the MPO later that month. Barlow contacted Spielberg to find out how much his services would cost to address some of the remaining issues, and gave four points of his action on which his firm should base a cost estimate:

• Determine what issues must be addressed before the RTA can be formed
• Develop alternative approaches to how to resolve those issues
• Understanding different cost scenarios for each potential resolution
• Develop a comparative analysis of how similar authorities in Virginia have dealt with the issues

A representative from VHB wrote back and said that the first bullet would likely consist of resolving the issues defined in the initial report’s Appendix J. While that section of the report contains an implementation schedule that largely assumed approval of a funding mechanism, many of the questions asked have yet to be answered or fully addressed, such as:

• Do the jurisdictions want to establish the principles, or the detailed methodology, for cost sharing prior to establishment of an Authority?
• What process should be used to develop a Memorandum of Understanding before proceeding to an Authority?
• Does the County accept the cost of providing service as computed by CTS staff? If not, what would the County need to accept the cost computations?
• Should the Authority strive to establish a fully independent organization or should it obtain some services from the City and County?
• How are costs of providing service allocated to the member jurisdictions?
• How are costs of capital equipment and facilities allocated to member jurisdictions?
• Can jurisdictions provide in-kind services to fulfill their funding obligations?
• How are revenues received from state and federal programs allocated?
• How are revenues received from UVa or other sources allocated?
• How are revenues accruing to the Authority allocated?
• Do the jurisdictions need to resolve all issues prior to forming the Authority?
• Is the City willing to cede this power to the Authority?
• Is the City willing to continue to allocate a portion of these funds to County services, prior to formation of an Authority?

The letter from VHB says that the above questions, along with others in Appendix J, would be a starting point for a first meeting with Frank Spielberg. It then proposes his attendance at an additional five meetings. VHB’s initial cost estimate assumes using 14 days of Spielberg’s time for meetings as well as an additional six days for research. Spielberg bills at the rate of $215 an hour, suggesting a budget of $40,000.

VHB's report contains multiple references to potential funding sources. This chart refers to revenues available to localities under HB3202 , a transportation funding bill passed in 2007. Click to enlarge. (Source: VHB)

During the MPO’s meeting, Barlow said she wanted to get input on whether this proposed estimate matched the MPO member’s expectations of what Spielberg’s future involvement should be. She also said her contact at the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) said there are least two grant-funding opportunities to help pay for VHB’s additional work. One would be a “technical assistance” grant where VDRPT would pay half of the costs with the rest coming from local sources. The second would be a federal planning grant  in which 80% of funding would come from the federal government, 10% from VDRPT and a required 10% match from localities.

Councilor Satyendra Huja said he was more interested in getting additional information about how to fund the RTA, given that the state denied the sales tax referendum. Barlow referred him to Appendix H of VHB’s RTA plan, which lists several other potential funding mechanisms. She said some of these were discussed at the May 14 meeting of the RTA Working Group.

“Before moving in any direction on how to fund the RTA, the question arose as to exactly what is it going to cost us to develop this in terms of what bridges we need to cost, what we do with employees, what we do with assets,” Barlow said. Huja is also a member of the RTA working group.

Councilor Julian Taliaferro, who is not a member of the RTA working group, asked if Albemarle County would “put up any money” to purchase some of the assets currently owned by City of Charlottesville.

Routes 5 and 7 serve Albemarle County and run twice an hour from 6:00 AM to midnight, Monday through Saturday. Route 7 is one of only two routes that run at all on Sunday. Albemarle County currently pays for the enhanced service

“I guess the question is, are we going to do a study if we don’t know what [Albemarle County’s] commitment is,” Taliaferro asked. “It perplexes me a little bit that we’re going to do a study and we really don’t know if anyone is going to join in.”

Neither Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) nor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) was present to respond. The County’s Chief Planner, David Bennish, was the County’s lone representative at this meeting and he said the purpose of the additional study by VHB would be to determine if there’s a way for the City and County to work together to plan for future transit.

CTS Director Bill Watterson said that the study is a “work in progress” to determine how hard it would be to resolve some of the remaining questions. He said the further study’s scope of work could be expanded or reduced.

Barlow suggested that the discussion should be postponed until the MPO’s July meeting. Huja concurred.

MPO VIEWS TWO PRESENTATIONS ON IMPROVING CTS

At the May 2009 meeting of the MPO Policy Board, Chair David Slutzky had mentioned that a class at Monticello High School had conducted a survey of CTS passengers. Their basic recommendations focused on adding more buses at night, adding more stops at night, and to expand bus service further in Albemarle County.

Download Anna MacIntosh's presentation

Source: Southeastern Institute for Research

Some of these findings were echoed in a more complex survey conducted by the Southeastern Institute of Research. Anna MacIntosh, Program Director for the firm, related the results of her group’s marketing study, which was conducted under the brand “Transportation Tomorrow.” The project was paid for in part by a grant received by the MPO to assess interest in forming a Regional Transit Authority. MacIntosh said the project was designed to increase public awareness of transportation planning. Outreach efforts included a telephone survey, an on-board passenger survey, a widely-promoted online survey as well as a paper survey handed out at places such as Charlottesville’s Senior Center.  As a result, MacIntosh claimed 4,385 citizens participated in the process.

Some of the findings from the random phone survey of 300 citizens:

• 13% of respondents said they are involved in local transportation planning
• 56% said they have never been involved with local transportation planning
• 9% said they ride a bus, including the free trolley, once a week
• 74% said they never ride a bus
• 61% said they do not have a bus stop within a mile of their house
• 11% said they would be likely or very likely to increase their usage in the next year
• 70% said they are unlikely to increase their usage in the next year
• 38% said they would use transit more often if they were closer to stops
• 39% of Albemarle County residents surveyed would be interested in a long distance commuter bus
• 46% said they would ride the bus more often if there were more frequent headways
• 67% are either in favor or very much in favor of establishing a Regional Transit Authority
• 88% said they are in support of a public vote on public funding for the RTA

MPO ADOPTS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR EARLIER AMTRAK TRAIN

Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved three years of funding to launch new daily Amtrak passenger service from Lynchburg to Washington. At the time, it was believed that the service’s schedule would allow for citizens to conduct a full day’s business in the nation’s capitol.

However, when the schedule was released, it depicted the train leaving Lynchburg at 7:43 a.m., with the train not arriving at Union Station until 11:20 a.m. This is because a railroad line owned by the CSX Corporation cannot accommodate the earlier schedule, which is considered a “peak-hour” slot.

At the May 2009 meeting, the MPO Policy Board directed staff to write a resolution asking the VDRPT to “closely monitor the ridership performance during the first year… to determine if it is meeting expectations.” A fear held by some in the community is that the three-year experiment will not be extended if it is not useful for business travelers. The resolution also asks for state transportation officials, including Governor Tim Kaine, “to do everything within the state of Virginia’s legal power and authority to negotiate an additional peak hour slot” for the service.
Service is expected to begin this October.

FEDERAL & STATE OFFICIALS CONFIRM UNJAM 2035 IS ‘FISCALLY CONSTRAINED’

As area planners and elected officials formulate and adopt plans for the community’s future infrastructure, one issue they face concerns how to best represent cost estimates for large capital projects. Critics of the adopted community water supply plan have repeatedly said that plan is unsound because some elements lack definite cost estimates. In June, the Free Enterprise Forum released a critique of the Albemarle County Planning Commission for using current year dollars for road improvement projects called for in Places29 rather than figures adjusted for inflation.

At the MPO’s May 2009 meeting, former City Council candidate Peter Kleeman questioned how the UNJAM 2035 long range transportation plan factors in the costs related to maintenance and upgrade associated with Interstate 64. He said that because that funding can only be used for that purpose, it artificially misleads the public into thinking that the community has more money to spend on transportation projects then it really does.

“There was something on the order of $100 million of funding in the long-range plan that are Interstate dollars that have been distributed for non-Interstate projects,” Kleeman said at the June 2009 meeting. He claimed that as a result, the UNJAM 2035 plan cannot be implemented or approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). 

Acting MPO Director Melissa Barlow said she reviewed federal regulations after receiving Kleeman’s comments, and said her interpretation was that the federal requirement for “fiscal constraint” takes all sources of funding into consideration: federal, state and local.

“There is no direction that I could find that you needed to financially constrain yourself to a particular system,” Barlow said. She then checked with VDOT and FHWA officials who agreed with her assessment. Unwanna Dabney, the FHWA representative on the MPO Policy Board, said the MPO met her agency’s basic requirements for showing fiscal constraint.

“That is the demonstration that a cumulative amount of funds are reasonably expected to be available over the 20 year timeframe [of the long range plan],” Dabney said. She said that some MPOs across the nation do break down the funding sources in their long-range plans, but that the goal of such documents is to serve as a planning document. Dabney also pointed out that much of the federal funding that comes to local communities comes through the SAFETEA-LU Act, which expires this year.

“It’s asking a bit much to constrain everything by program when we really have no idea what the next federal legislation [for transportation] is going to look like,” Dabney said.

OTHER NEWS:

This was the last meeting for Melissa Barlow, who will leave the MPO and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission for a job with the Federal Transit Administration. The TJPDC’s new Executive Director, Steven Williams, has been officially certified as the Director of the MPO

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 01:00 – Meeting called to order by Vice Chair Satyendra Huja
• 01:20 – Public comment from Peter Kleeman regarding long range plan
• 04:46 – Public comment from John Pfaltz asking that the MPO tell the County that the Woodbrook be connected to the rest of the County’s transportation network so regional transit can work
• 06:54 – Adoption of minutes from May 2009 meeting
• 07:26 – Acting MPO Director Melissa Barlow notes that David Benish is Supervisor David Slutzky’s alternate for the purposes of a quorum
• 08:00 – MPO begins “fiscal constraint discussion”
• 16:30 – Presentation of Monticello High School CTS Survey
• 26:00 – Presentation of Southeastern Institute for Research’s RTA Toolkit
• 1:15:15 – Discussion of letter to support earlier schedule for AMTRAK Passenger Service
• 1:18:40 – Discussion of funding of further study of RTA by Frank Spielberg of VHB
• 1:28:45 – CHART Member Mac Lafferty reports on Bike Virginia

Independent candidate Paul Long joins City Council race

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Yesterday evening, Venable resident Paul Long (I) joined the Charlottesville City Council race on the eve of the filing deadline for independent candidates.  Long who will turn sixty in September, has lived in the area for eleven years.  He moved to Charlottesville in February 1998 from the Philadelphia area to assist with medical care for a family member.  Since relocating to Charlottesville, Long has been an employee of the UVa Medical Center where he works in the Transportation Department assisting with patient transportation in and around the hospital.

In an interview with Charlottesville Tomorrow, Long said he was inspired in part by the City Council candidacy of Andrew Williams (I), a twenty-two year old PVCC student and State Farm employee.  “If this young guy can do it, I should do it too,” said Long. 

Long said there were three issues that would be central to his campaign for Charlottesville City Council: decriminalizing drugs; creating the proposed Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and expanding it to surrounding counties; and providing greater revenues to local non-profits working to support homeless residents.

Decriminalizing drugs will be Long’s top priority if elected.  Long said he has eight years experience as an addiction counselor.  “Drug use should be treated as a public health issue, as opposed to a matter for the criminal justice system,” said Long.

Long also says he will bring significant experience in transportation policy to City Council as a result of his fourteen years of work as a citizen involved with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.  In Pennsylvania’s Tinicum Township, Long was appointed by the town as a “citizen watchdog” for the authority’s meetings because of his advocacy for public transportation.

“I am a great believer in the public transportation system,” said Long.  “I think the Regional Transit Authority is a good idea, but surrounding counties should be invited to join as well.”  Long also plans to lobby for increased bus service on Sundays and on holidays.  Long has never learned to drive a vehicle and relies on public transit in Charlottesville.

Facing Long on the ballot in November will be incumbent Councilor, Dave Norris (D), Kristin Szakos (D), and Bob Fenwick (I).  The candidate that helped inspire his campaign, Andrew Williams (I), will also be running as he attempts to win a seat on Council in a write-in campaign. 

Williams learned yesterday evening that he failed to submit enough petition signatures to get on the ballot.  He announced today he will run a write-in campaign seeking one of the two Council seats in the November general election.

Local officials agree to keep developing plans for regional transit authority

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

On May 14, 2009, the working group overseeing the creation of a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) met to discuss its next steps for the Charlottesville and Albemarle County project to form and fund a new entity expanding public transit options in the community.  Consensus was reached to have staff of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) prepare recommendations on RTA governance issues and to draft a budget to retain a consultant to guide the RTA’s formation and system design.  The resulting project plan will then be brought back to local officials for further consideration.

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Local leaders received both good news and bad news in the 2009 General Assembly session.  While legislators easily granted authority for the creation of an RTA, they withheld permission for local governments to hold a voter referendum on a potential sales tax increase that would fund the cooperative venture.

The RTA initiative began over a year ago when the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council reached consensus in February 2008 to jointly pursue a Regional Transit Authority which would take over and expand the operations of the Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS).  In August 2008, the RTA Work Group was formed to develop legislative proposals to secure the blessing of the General Assembly in 2009.  The University of Virginia, while a participant in the meetings and a major operator of local bus service, has consistently stated it did not intend to join the RTA.

At the one-hour meeting earlier this month, the general mood of the RTA Work Group was one of disappointment with the General Assembly, a belief that there would be a public backlash against inadequate funding for the state’s transportation needs, and an expressed desire to elect representatives at the state level who would address transportation.  Four of five members of Charlottesville City Council came to the meeting and they were joined by Supervisors Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) and David Slutzky (Rio).

Slutzky started the discussion describing three potential paths for the group’s work:

1. Take no action (in the absence of a funding mechanism).
2. Form the RTA to demonstrate serious intent to General Assembly.
3. Form the RTA and establish a service district to raise funds for transportation and/or transit projects.  A service district is already allowed by the General Assembly.

Slutzky shared his calculations on how much revenue could be raised if a 5 or 10 cent tax was levied on residential and/or commercial property in the City and County.  In one scenario, Slutzky said $4.2 million could be raised annually with a 5 cent tax (per $100 assessed property value) on a service district covering all urban commercial property.  In a second scenario, if urban residential and rural commercial property was included in the district, Slutzky said $8.2 million could be generated annually.

Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) said that half of the counties comparable to Albemarle in Virginia have established service districts to raise local revenues.  Rooker said, however, that he favored letting the “dire funding situation” in Richmond play out before implementing new local taxes.

“Basically the state has no money for construction, no money for anything in transportation…and they are barely meeting the minimum necessary to obtain federal [matching funds],” said Rooker. “I think we need to let what’s happening in Richmond play out a little bit because, I think that given these most recent cuts, there is going to be a big public backlash at some point soon.”

The officials debated whether the community would benefit from an incremental or comprehensive approach to a new public transit system.  They assessed the cost vs. benefits of Charlottesville transitioning control of CTS to the new Authority.  They concluded by asking TJPDC staff to develop a proposal and budget for the RTA’s governance and formation.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 01:18 -- Call to order by Melissa Barlow, Director of Transportation Programs (TJPDC) and Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio)
• 03:25 – Slutzky asks David Blount (Legislative Liaison, TJPDC) to provide an update on 2009 General Assembly actions
• 11:58 -- Slutzky outlines three potential paths for the RTA Work Group’s next steps
• 13:15 -- Slutzky describes funding options with a service district and shares his calculations on potential revenue
• 22:20 -- Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) describes current VDOT funding issues and his preference for letting the politics in Richmond play out before raising new local taxes
• 24:58 -- Slutzky asks group to consider next steps for RTA formation
• 36:45 – Councilor Satyendra Huja indicates desire to radically restructure public transit but questions why City would want to give up control of Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS)
• 40:17 -- Slutzky outlines steps required to move forward with RTA
• 51:06 -- Bill Watterson, CTS, describes current costs of public transit and states the costs will be greater with RTA, for no increase in service, if the RTA takes on the in-kind contributions of about $400,000 provided today by Charlottesville
• 55:16 -- Slutzky describes next steps to be taken by TJPDC staff to develop a proposal and budget for RTA governance and formation

MPO asks transit working group to recommend next steps on RTA

At their meeting on March 25, 2009, the MPO Policy Board learned more about a proposed phone survey to determine the public’s attitudes towards transit and decided to reconvene the Regional Transit Authority working group to recommend next steps in the pursuit of a joint transit authority for Charlottesville-Albemarle.

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In their recently completed session, the General Assembly passed legislation to allow Charlottesville and Albemarle County to form a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) to consolidate the governance of the existing Charlottesville Transit System (CTS). However, a second bill to allow City and County residents to vote in a referendum on a sales tax increase to pay for the RTA failed to make it out of the House Finance Committee.

That leaves a big question to be answered. Without new sources of funding, is it worth it for the two communities to form the RTA at this time? Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) had requested the MPO discuss the issue at the March meeting. He suggested reconvening the RTA working group that was created following the joint Board-Council meeting in August 2008 when both bodies decided to pursue the RTA. Before that happens, though, both the Board of Supervisors and the Councilors need to decide for sure if they want to take that step.

Albemarle County Supervisor and MPO Chairman David Slutzky

“The first thing that group needs to really address is the practicality of creating the [RTA] without a dedicated funding source that is better than what we currently have,” said Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett). He asked that CTS Director be present for those meetings so he could discuss the logistics of transferring CTS assets and employees to the RTA’s control. Rooker also asked for a timeline that showed all of the steps that would need to be taken to form the RTA. Slutzky said that he wanted to use the meeting to discuss the potential of seeking other funding options for the RTA.

The MPO also heard details of a telephone survey that will be conducted in April to gauge how citizens feel about transit and the possibility of increasing service through the RTA. This follows on the heels of an on-board rider survey conducted by the Charlottesville Transit Service in March. Over 3,000 passengers filled out paper questionnaires, and the data will be combined with the results of the telephone survey.

The Richmond-based Southeastern Institute of Research will be coordinating the project. Other initiatives to get public opinion include an effort to reach out to seniors,hourly U.Va employees, and the general public through an online survey. Recommendations collected from the responses will be presented at a public workshop to be held on May 2.

Sean Tubbs

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 01:00 - MPO Meeting convenes, beginning with public comment from Jerry Deily on light rail
• 02:45 - Public comment from Neil Williamson about the reliability of telephone surveys on transit
• 05:30 - Public hearing on MPO’s Public Participation Plan
• 14:00 – Public hearing on Draft FY10 United Planning and Work Program (UPWP)
• 17:30 – Public hearing comment from Jerry Diely suggesting better way to organize studies to better achieve stimulus funding
• 21:30 – Approval of minutes from February 2009 meeting
• 22:30 – Discussion of Regional Transit Authority assessment toolkit
• 32:30 – Councilor Julian Taliaferro said the survey was fairly long
• 36:00 – Supervisor David Slutzky wonders if the phone survey will include a disclaimer that it is being funded by the MPO
• 39:30 – JAUNT Representative wonders if cycling should be added as a mode of transportation
• 41:00 – Comments from Southeastern Institute for Research representative Anna McIntosh
• 44:30 – Discussion of next steps for the Regional Transit Authority
• 54:30 – Councilor Julian Taliaferro asks MPO to include Jefferson School on its list for possible of getting Transportation Enhancement Act (TEA) funds to pay for historic preservation
• 59:00 –MPO Program Coordinator Ann Whitham updates MPO on UNJAM 2035
• 1:00:00 – Public comment from Jerry Deily about how to merge CTS personnel into RTA if it is formed
• 1:01:00 – Public comment from Jeanne Chase of the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association regarding any plans to assist her community with traffic problems

Supervisor Slutzky will not challenge Delegate Bell; Focusing on local agenda in 2009

On January 26, 2009, Albemarle County Supervisor David Slutzky (D-Rio) appeared on WINA’s Charlottesville Right Now radio program and announced he had decided not to challenge Delegate Rob Bell (R-58) for his seat in the Virginia General Assembly.  Slutzky told host Coy Barefoot that he intended in 2009 to remain focused on the priorities in his work before local government. 

Slutzky did not announce whether he would seek re-election for a second term on the Board of Supervisors.  In an open seat election, Slutzky defeated Gary Grant (R-Rio) in November 2005 after the retirement of David Bowerman from the Rio District seat.  Earlier this month, Slutzky was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chairman of the Board during 2009. His current four-year term on the Board ends on December 31, 2009.  The seats held by Supervisors Sally Thomas (I-Samuel Miller) and Dennis Rooker (I-Jack Jouett) are also up for re-election in November 2009.

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“My role on the Board of Supervisors has gotten interesting,” said Slutzky.  “I’ve got a lot of things that we are dealing with that are very important to the community…and [I am] very interested in and engaged in some of these topics, and to take on a major campaign at a time like this…would be very distracting.”

Coy Barefoot asked Slutzky to name the top issues on his local government agenda.  “Right now, front and center is the issue of transportation.  We have serious transportation challenges in Albemarle County and Charlottesville right now,” said Slutzky.  As a Supervisor, Slutzky also serves as Chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and has represented Albemarle on a task force related to the formation of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Transit Authority.  

Slutzky described two bills (HB2158 and HB2161) introduced by Delegate David Toscano (D-57) that would allow the community to form the joint transit entity and, separately, to hold a voter referendum on a local sales tax increase to fund both transit and transportation needs.  Slutzky said that if the local sales tax was raised by a penny the City and County would raise close to $25 million a year which could be applied to the community’s approved list of priority transportation projects.

Supervisor Slutzky identified two other priorities that will get his attention in 2009.  First, efforts to address climate change and reduce the community’s ‘carbon footprint,’ and a proposal to allow for the transfer of development rights in Albemarle County.

Brian Wheeler

Supervisors vote 5-1 to support legislation allowing referendum on local tax levy to pay for transportation needs

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has endorsed legislation that would allow Charlottesville and Albemarle County voters to decide whether to impose up to a 1 cent sales tax increase to fund transit and transportation projects. That follows the Board’s endorsement last November of legislation (HB2158) to create a Regional Transit Authority, which would be funded by the additional revenue. While Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna) supported the first resolution, he withheld his support for the funding legislation citing concerns about raising taxes in the current recession.

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The bill by Delegate David Toscano (D-57) (HB2161) has been introduced in the House of Delegates and is currently awaiting action in committee. In August, Toscano told a joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council that the bill would only win passage if it had the unanimous support of all of the area’s elected officials. 

Though there was no scheduled public hearing on the resolution, several people spoke out against the idea of any tax increase during the Board’s public comment period early in the meeting. Greg Quinn, a stonemason who lives in Albemarle County, called the idea of a Regional Transit Authority a “socialistic Shangri-la” and that the County had to live within its means. County resident Tom Slonaker said that a sales tax increase would close businesses and contribute to the economic crisis. Keith Drake, Chairman of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance, said that the County needs to do more to pressure the state to do its part to fund transportation. Drake added that he was concerned about what he saw as a “tax first, then plan how to spend it approach.”

However, Jeff Werner of the Piedmont Environmental Council said that he supported the idea of asking voters directly if they wanted the tax increase. Werner was a member of the Transportation Funding Options Working Group, and that the referendum was one of that group’s recommendations.

The Board’s discussion of the legislation to allow for the referendum was the last item on the agenda for the meeting on January 14, 2009. Chairman David Slutzky (Rio) said the item was originally slated to be on the consent agenda until Boyd requested it be pulled for Board discussion. 

Slutzky said he is hopeful that the legislation will pass, and that the County has to do something to address its transportation problems. “We seem to have no choice but to go down this path,” Slutzky said. Otherwise, the County may be forced to raise property taxes in order to fund road and transit projects. Addressing Drake’s concern that this is a tax-first spend-later approach, Slutzky said that projects that would be funded would conform to the County, City and MPO’s transportation priorities.

Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett), who has been involved in County transportation issues for over 20 years, said the state has “completely abdicated” its role in funding road construction and improvements. He said the County has been funding projects such as the Meadowcreek Parkway with property taxes, but needs another option. 

“What I’m in favor of is allowing the people in our area to at least have an opportunity to express their opinion through the ballot on whether or not they want to find a way to pay for transportation projects other than on the backs of property taxes,” Rooker said. He pointed out that any projects that would receive funding must be part of the long-range transportation plan. 

From the outset of his comments, Supervisor Boyd said he would not support the bill. He said that while he supported referendums, he questioned whether this was the appropriate time to levy a 1 cent tax.
“I’m not in favor of increasing any kind of taxes on our populace right now,” Boyd said. “I am not certain this recession is going to be gone in a year from now, or even two years from now.” 

Boyd said the local transportation tax would further push the General Assembly towards devolution of funding responsibility to cities and counties. He suggested asking the General Assembly to return another cent back to the localities from the state sales tax. Rooker asked how that would be possible when the state is contending with a $2.3 billion deficit.

Slutzky pointed out that 56% of Albemarle County residents said they would support additional taxes to support transportation projects, according to the biennial citizen survey  conducted for the County. Boyd disputed those results and said they had not yet been finalized

Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier

After Boyd called for a vote, Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier (Scottsville) asked to speak. He said that the County had to be ahead of the curve and invest in public transportation. He and Slutzky both asked Boyd to support the legislation in order to send a unified message to Richmond. Boyd declined.

“I’m principled against this so I’m sorry that I can’t,” Boyd said.

Sean Tubbs

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 1:00 - Public comment from County resident Greg Quinn against the legislation
• 2:30 - Public comment from County resident Tom Slonaker against the legislation
• 4:30 - Public comment from County resident Keith Drake of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance
• 7:00 - Public comment from City resident Jeff Werner of the Piedmont Environmental Council
• 10:00 - Chairman David Slutzky opens Board's discussion by listing reasons he's supporting legislation
• 19:00 - Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier asks how much money can be raised with a 1-cent sales tax
• 19:30 - Supervisor Dennis Rooker explains why he is in favor of legislation
• 26:30 - Dorrier asks questions and is answered by Slutzky and Rooker
• 28:00 - Dorrier asks if expanding RTA to other counties has been discussed
• 31:00 - Supervisor Ann Mallek explains her support
• 32:15 - Supervisor Ken Boyd outlines his reasons for opposing the legislation
• 35:00 - Rooker questions if Boyd trusts the voters to make a decision, followed by discussion of Western Bypass
• 43:00 - Supervisor Sally Thomas explains why she supports the legislation
• 47:15 - Dorrier explains why he supports the legislation
• 48:30 - Slutzky asks Boyd to support the legislation; Boyd declines
• 49:40 - County attorney Larry Davis explains that the Board would be able to levy less than 1%
• 54:15 - Rooker makes motion to move for approval; motion passes 5-1

Top-10 Growth & Development Stories of 2008

In my weekly appearance today on WINA AM 1070 on the Charlottesville Right Now program, host Coy Barefoot and I will count down Charlottesville Tomorrow's top-10 growth and development stories of 2008.

This is the third year we have counted down the top-10 growth and development stories in Charlottesville-Albemarle.  This wouldn’t be possible without the support of WINA for the Charlottesville Right Now program, host Coy Barefoot for having me on the show each week, Charlottesville Tomorrow’s donors, and the excellent reporting by my colleague Sean Tubbs and our interns and fellows.

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Charlottesville Tomorrow's Top-10 Growth and Development Stories of 2008

1. Approved 50-year Community Water Supply Plan comes under scrutiny as proposed Ragged Mountain Dam cost estimates rise and citizen group demands look at project alternatives and dredging options. [Review all our water supply news].
2. Major new housing and retail developments held up by market forces and lack of adequate public infrastructure (e.g. sewer capacity impacting North Pointe and Albemarle Place developments). National economic recession impacts local government budgets, housing market, and new home construction.  New County residential building permits total 360 through September 2008, on track to be the lowest annual total in over a decade.
3. Supervisor Ann Mallek’s first year representing the White Hall District on the six member Albemarle County Board of Supervisors results in several significant 4-2 votes breaking the 3-3 stalemate that had existed on issues like property taxes and rural area protection strategies.
4. City and County agree to seek legislation to support formation of Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority (CARTA), a jointly run public transit authority that would take over and expand the bus operations of the Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS). Separate legislation is being recommended by a work group of Supervisors and City Councilors to seek authority to raise funds for transportation projects (including transit operations) via a local sales tax increase, if approved in a voter referendum in each locality.
5. Meadowcreek Parkway construction contract (for the County’s portion) awarded to Faulconer Construction with work scheduled to begin in early 2009. City Council opts for grade-separated “signalized diamond” interchange for the Parkway’s intersection with the Route 250. The Steering Committee had recommended a design with an overpass above an oval roundabout. City Planning Commission ends their work in 2008 with a recommendation to withdraw funding for City’s portion of project which is scheduled to go to bid in early 2009. 
6. Albemarle County approves several rural area protection strategies. Three rural area ordinance changes were approved related to holding periods on family sub-divisions, stream buffers, and driveways across steep slopes. A new land use taxation revalidation program is also approved by a unanimous vote of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. 
7. County continues review of economic development policy update in comprehensive plan and eyes light industrial zoning needs. As part of a lengthy (and frequently delayed) review of the Economic Development chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, Supervisors overturn a Planning Commission decision and opt to continue review of Yancey Mills Business Park, a proposal for a light industrial business park in Crozet near the I-64 and Route 250 interchange. Review of the economic development goals began in November 2007 and is once again on the agenda of the Board of Supervisors for their meeting on January 7, 2009.
8. Charlottesville City Council holds retreat in Staunton, VA.  Charlottesville Tomorrow attends as only observer from public or media. 
9. Albemarle County improves citizen and media access to important planning information by providing Internet access to complete staff reports provided to the County Planning Commission and by releasing the County View web application which allows detailed tracking of planning and building applications. Combined with the County’s GISWEB application and complete access to Board of Supervisor meeting materials and podcasts, the County has an impressive collection of material available online.
10. Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Pie Day 2008.  No other topic generated as much positive feedback and listener calls as Coy and Brian’s ongoing radio dialogue about homemade pies.

Brian’s predictions for the top stories of 2009

• 50-year Community Water Supply Plan
• Results of government efficiency reviews released by City and County.  What changes will be implemented?
• Local elections will be held for City Council and Board of Supervisors (see Election Watch 2009)
• General Assembly will block local sales tax increase for transportation funding and continue to shrink VDOT funding allocations to Charlottesville-Albemarle
• Downtown Mall renovations will be completed.  Will it be under budget and on schedule? Monitor the progress here.
• Local governments will face budget challenges as recession continues.  Revenue sharing from County to City will increase by $4 million to around $18 million a year.
• Places29 Master Plan will be unveiled.  Will it be approved?
• Crozet Master Plan’s first 5-year review gets underway
• Meadowcreek Parkway construction gets underway. Will a lawsuit stall City’s portion?
• Community will review of ASAP’s optimal population study findings

The best way to keep track of these and other stories about growth and development is to subscribe to our free weekly e-mail updates.  Thanks for listening, reading, and commenting in 2008!

Brian Wheeler

Toscano starts preparing legislation for Charlottesville-Albemarle transit authority and sales tax referendum

Delegate David Toscano (D-57) has started preparing two pieces of legislation which would, if enacted by the General Assembly, enable Charlottesville and Albemarle to form a joint Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and allow each locality to hold a voter referendum on a new local sales tax of up to 1 cent.  If a full cent increase on the sales tax was levied, over $25 million would be raised annually to fund transit and transportation projects in the community. 

 DOWNLOAD the Work Group’s guidance related to legislation for sale tax referendum

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The work group of City Councilors and members of the Board of Supervisors who have been facilitating the creation of the RTA met on November 25, 2008 and received an update on the legislative effort.  Toscano’s draft bills will be reviewed by the work group and presented to City Council and the Board of Supervisors for approval before they are submitted formally to the General Assembly for the 2009 session.

While the work group has initially asked Toscano to prepare legislation calling for a new sales tax, the officials acknowledged that legislators in Richmond may have a preference for some other revenue source.  Alternatively, the General Assembly may not want any local government to be empowered to raise a new tax next year.  In October, Delegate Rob Bell (R-58) told the work group that he did not yet have enough information to support what he saw as a “very substantial tax increase,” even if it was only enacted via a successful voter referendum.

The local Chamber of Commerce has said it will also have difficulty supporting a sales tax increase.  Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) updated the work group on his November 13th presentation to the Chamber’s Economic and Government Affairs Committee.  Slutzky said the committee was supportive of the formation of the RTA, but that it preferred for transportation funding to come from the state and that any new revenues be generated from a gas tax.  “What was not so clear was their willingness to embrace up to a penny on the sales tax,” said Slutzky. “They had their strong aversion to that.”

“I think we had an adequate airing of the issues,” said Slutzky.  “I’m sure they fully understand why we ended up with the recommendation of up to a penny on the sales tax.”

Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) said he thought it was important to emphasize that the legislation seeking funding authority was tied to a referendum.  “When you ask someone, ‘Do you want to increase the sales tax?’ Most businessmen are going to say, ‘No,’ said Rooker.  The community, he said, is seeking “support for the public’s right to determine whether or not they will increase the sales tax.”

Slutzky said the Chamber’s Board of Directors would be reviewing the proposal very soon and that they may have additional feedback.  “It would be wonderful if we were to receive some sort of an endorsement for what we are trying to accomplish from the Chamber,” said Slutzky.

City Councilor Satyendra Huja

A common refrain in the questioning of the RTA project by business leaders, legislators, and community members has been, ‘How much money are you going to raise, what road projects would it support, and how much will be earmarked for public transit?’  City Councilor Satyendra Huja suggested it would be helpful if the “draft priority project list” that accompanies the legislative proposal gave some specificity to the amount of funding for transit.  Under transit improvements, the estimated cost column had noted that it was “To Be Determined (some costs are eligible for federal or state funding).”

Mayor Dave Norris said, in part to respond to Delegate Bell’s concerns, that it might be good to place a range on the estimated transit operational costs.  The work group reached consensus to indicate that transit improvements would be expected to receive between $4 million to $8 million annually for operations.  Capital needs, according to the work group, will be largely covered by other state and federal funds.

Bill Watterson, head of the Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS), told Charlottesville Tomorrow after the meeting that his operating budget today is just under $6 million, but that the local contribution from the City and County totaled about $2.75 million.  The operations of CTS would be taken over by the new RTA.  Thus, if the sales tax was approved by the voters and increased by a full penny, with $4-8 million allocated to transit, that would allow for both increased bus operations and for the remaining $17-21 million to be allocated to other transportation projects each year.

The next meeting of the RTA work group has not been scheduled, but is expected to take place after Delegate Toscano receives draft legislation from the Virginia General Assembly’s Legislative Services staff.  City Council and the Board of Supervisors are expected to endorse a final legislative proposal in December or January.

Brian Wheeler

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 01:30 -- Call to order by Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio), Work Group Chairman
• 03:52 – David Blount, Legislative Liaison for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC), updates work group on Delegate David Toscano’s (D-58) work on legislative proposals
• 06:24 – Blount, Slutzky, and Mayor Dave Norris describe flexibility in approach that may be required when negotiations begin during the General Assembly session.
• 16:00 – Slutzky reports on presentation to Chamber of Commerce’s Economic and Government Affairs Committee
• 21:35 – Slutzky opens discussion on the sales tax funding option.  Rooker emphasizes that the sales tax authority would be for up to a penny, but it may not be levied at the full amount.
• 22:20 – Work group discusses possible breakout of funds raised between transit and transportation projects.  Agrees to specify that public transit improvements would be specified in a range of $4-8 million annually for operations.

Council votes to support legislation for local funding options for transit and transportation

The Charlottesville City Council has voted to support legislation that would allow the City and Albemarle County to hold a referendum on up to a one-cent sales tax that would pay for a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) as well as other transportation projects. A working group of Supervisors and Councilors are still crafting the legislation in advance of next year’s General Assembly session. They’ll meet on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 to determine how to proceed. 

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Council has already indicated its support for the legislation when it approved the City’s legislative program. Council has also voted to support enabling legislation that would allow the RTA to be formed.  

“What’s before you tonight is a document that has come through the RTA working group that provides a little more detail and outline to that proposed one-cent sales tax increase,” said Craig Brown, Charlottesville’s City Attorney.  Here are the four points covered in the draft legislation, taken verbatim from the motion Council adopted:

• The City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle would be authorized to levy a local sales tax of up to one cent to be designated and spent solely for the purposes of transit and transportation initiatives.
• This local sales tax shall be levied only if the tax is approved in a referendum within the City or County in accordance with Virginia Code § 24.2-684 initiated by a resolution of the local governing body.
• The amount of the local sales tax, not to exceed one cent, would be adopted by ordinance. The transit and transportation initiatives to be funded by the local sales tax would be determined by each locality.
• The initiatives would be limited to transit costs, including funding for each locality’s share of the cost of a Regional Transit Authority, and transportation projects selected from the region’s Constrained Long Range Plan, the City’s Urban Road Program, or the County’s Secondary Road

Other communities across Virginia had flirted with the idea of pursuing regional authorities as a way of generating local funds for transportation and transit projects. Jurisdictions in the Richmond area have opted not to go forward for this year.  Brown said the prognosis did not look good for Charlottesville-Albemarle’s efforts.

“The prospects for this being passed this year by the General Assembly are not good,” Brown said.
After making a motion to approve the specific legislative request, Councilor Satyendra Huja said he did not see any reference to the fall-back options that are available to some other regional authorities under HB3202 (legislation approved in 2007). Attorney  Brown said the request would be submitted to the state Division of Legislative Services to draft the legislation, and that the area’s legislators can be made aware of the fall-back position. 

Sean Tubbs

County joins City in endorsing resolution seeking permission to form new transit authority

David Blount, Legislative Liaison, TJPDC

On November 5, 2008, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for enabling authority from the Virginia General Assembly to create a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in cooperation with the City of Charlottesville.  The resolution was presented to the Board for consideration by David Blount, Legislative Liaison with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.  A similar resolution was approved by City Council earlier this week.  As a result of this action, legislation allowing for the creation of a Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Transit Authority is expected to be submitted for the 2009 General Assembly session by local legislators.

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A separate resolution, which would seek legislative approval for new local taxing powers to fund transit and transportation, has not yet been considered by City Council or the Board of Supervisors.  A work group of elected officials is continuing to meet with area stakeholders to reach consensus on what funding tools should be included in that second proposal.  Some local officials have stated that an RTA should not be created to replace the Charlottesville Transit System (CTS) without new sources of revenue being identified. 

While road construction and maintenance has traditionally been funded at the state and federal level, area officials have said repeatedly that the state is not fulfilling its responsibility to adequately fund the area's transportation needs.  The City and County rely heavily on real estate property taxes to fund local budgets, but in the absence of state funding, they would prefer to fund major transportation projects with alternative sources of revenue.  A local gas tax or sales tax, however, would require authorization from the General Assembly.  The next step in the effort to create the RTA will be to focus on identifying specific funding sources and potential voter referendum requirements.

The RTA work group will report to City Council and the Board of Supervisors before the end of the year with their recommendations.  Their next meeting is scheduled for November 21, 2008.

The text of the resolution approved on November 5, 2008 is as follows:

Resolution To Seek Enabling Legislation To Establish a Regional Transit Authority In The Charlottesville-Albemarle Area
 
WHEREAS, transportation planning and systems are regional in scope; and
WHEREAS,  transportation planning includes both transit planning and transit operations; and
WHEREAS, limited transit facilities currently serve the overall Charlottesville-Albemarle area; and
WHEREAS, the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle intend to continue to serve existing ridership; and
WHEREAS, the City and County are interested in extended transit service to developing areas and providing faster, more frequent service to the existing system; and
WHEREAS, a Regional Transit Authority would coordinate regional transit planning and operations; and
WHEREAS, a Regional Transit Authority does not currently exist in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area; and
WHEREAS, enabling legislation is necessary to create a Regional Transit Authority.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the County of Albemarle requests that enabling authority for a Regional Transit Authority to serve the Charlottesville-Albemarle area be adopted.

Brian Wheeler