Feb 17

Reducing Traffic Congestion STARTS Now!!

In today’s Capitol Report, issued by the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, there is a Call to Action to support a $0.01 sales tax to pay for improvements to traffic problems in Metro Atlanta. While I think something must be done about the problem, I am not sold that sales tax is the answer. I believe other alternatives are worth considering before we go and raise taxes. I am curious to hear what my readers think on this one? Do you support the following?:

State Representative Chuck Martin of Alpharetta and State Representative Richard Royal of the Southwest Georgia community of Camilla have introduced the State Authorized Regional Transportation Solution (STARTS) legislation that the regional business community has identified as its number one legislative priority this year.

The bill enables regions across the state to come together and determine their transportation priorities and then submit the plan along with a 1-cent sales tax to pay for the improvements to a referendum before their voters. Counties in the metro region would be required to begin the planning process but could opt out before the referendum if they chose to. Accountability measures such as a required sunset, a list of projects that would be built and an oversight committee of citizens from each county involved would ensure that the program was run efficiently and that the voters were getting what they had paid for.

With traffic congestion reaching unprecedented levels in the metro region, and state and federal funding drying up, the bill is critical if metro Atlanta is going to reduce congestion and improve its quality of life.

It is very important at this time that legislators from the metro region hear from their constituents regarding the importance of finding solutions to our traffic problems. Please contact your representatives and let them know that you support efforts to fix our traffic congestion such as HB 434, which allows a regional referendum process that ensures accountability and puts the power in the hands of the people.

To read the full text of House Bill 434 and check on its status, go to http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/sum/hb434.htm.

**The Capitol Report is provided by the Cherokee County Chamber, in partnership with the Regional Business Coalition. The Regional Business Coalition (RBC) is comprised of 14 local chambers of commerce and business organizations in the metro Atlanta region. To learn more, please visit www.rbcatl.com.

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About Brad Nix

Brad is the managing broker and co-owner of Maxsell Real Estate and co-founder of REtechSouth. He is also an accomplished commercial agent in the North Atlanta real estate market. Brad also serves as the Vice President for the Cherokee Association of Realtors and as Director for Security Bank of North Metro. Brad enjoys real estate, technology, good music, nice people and dark beer.
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  • Dorky Dad

    There are several problems with using a general sales tax to solve traffic problems: 1) it’s regressive and 2) it doesn’t tax the root cause (too many vehicles on too few roads at the same time).

    On it being regressive, the people most likely to use public transportation (presumably one of the solutions to Atlanta’s traffic woes) would be those most effected. That sends the wrong message, but hey, the poor don’t vote, so there won’t likely be any resource against the politicians.

    If the goal is to raise the most money, then perhaps a sales tax would do the trick, though I believe the purpose of a tax to reduce traffic congestion should both make it more expensive to drive (reduce demand) as well as raise money for solutions (increase supply).

    Lacking the ability to tax people who drive on congested roads during peak hours, I’d suggest an increase in the sales tax on gas since those who drive more frequently (and presumably are a greater contributor to traffic congestion) would pay a higher share of tax than those who don’t.

  • brad nix

    Good points and I agree with your premise of making those who use the roads pay for the roads. (which is why I like toll roads and toll lanes also)

    But taxing gas is being done now, just incorrectly. Much of the current state gas tax is charged as cents per gallon, not per dollar. So when general prices rise, that 7.5 cents per gallon of gas doesn’t. There is also a 4 cents per dollar gas tax, 3 cents of which go to transportation. Transportation funding in Georgia has fallen from $159 per capita in 1975 to $61 per capita last year, according to the group.

    So why not switch everything to cents per dollar and eliminate the cents per gallon?