CCTA wants local tax
but lawmakers skeptical

By Matt Sutkoski
Free Press Staff Writer
Friday, January 10, 2003

The director of Chittenden County's bus service said he will ask lawmakers to allow some type of regional sales tax to pay for public transit in the county, but dubious legislators could kill the idea.

Property taxpayers in the communities the Chittenden County Transportation Authority serves pay for much of the bus service. Reliance on property taxes is slowly choking CCTA and preventing it from expanding, CCTA General Manager Chris Cole said.

The only way to rescue public transit is to abandon property taxes as a source of revenue and adopt a whole new way of paying for the buses, he said.

Communities served by CCTA don't want to raise property taxes to increase the frequency or extent of bus runs. Leaders in towns that have blossomed into commercial and residential hubs but are still not served by CCTA, also don't want to ask property owners to contribute more taxes.

Cole, and a task force that studied the issue over the summer and fall, suggest either a small county retail sales tax, or a countywide sales tax on gasoline to keep the CCTA buses running and expand into more towns.

Two of the principal funding ideas in the task force's report are:

-- A Chittenden County retail sales tax: A 1-cent sales tax increase in Chittenden County would yield about $12 million annually, more than CCTA needs. The extra money could go to other local services such as economic development and education. The task force report does not lay out who would oversee the services.

Alternatively, a county tax could instead be set at some fraction of 1 cent. The statewide sales tax is 5 percent.

-- A sales tax could be limited to gasoline. A 1 percent sales tax on gas and diesel fuel within Chittenden County might raise about $1.3 million annually.

Cole anticipates complaints that a regional tax would amount to a new tax, something lawmakers are loath to endorse, especially during an economic slowdown. Cole doesn't see the situation that way.

"We don't want new money; we want different money," he said.
Legislative approval


Any local tax needs approval from the Legislature, which historically grants permission for local taxes reluctantly, if at all.

"I've always been against local option taxes," said Sen. Richard Mazza, D-Chittenden/ Grand Isle. "It pits one community against the other."

A local tax would drive people to neighboring communities that don't have the tax, which is unfair to retailers, Mazza said.

Mazza favors some sort of statewide approach to public transit funding. "If you want, you could have a statewide tax and fund it back like the town highway grant program. It's state-funded, but it comes back to the community," he said.

Any new tax plan would have a difficult time making it through the Legislature, Mazza said. "This is not the year to consider raising taxes. I think people are just trying to get by on what they're making now. We're in tough times," he said.

In addition to not liking local taxes, lawmakers from other parts of Vermont are often reluctant to send money to Burlington and its environs, said Sen. Jim Condos, D-Chittenden, who is among those backing the tax.

"A lot of legislators do not like to do something that just helps Chittenden County, but we're saying use this as a model," Condos said.

If a local tax improves transit in Chittenden County, similar ideas could work elsewhere in Vermont, he said.

Condos has reason to support the task force initiative. Besides being a state senator, he is City Council chairman in South Burlington, a community chafing from increasing property tax demands to pay for bus service.

"We are going to be in a death spiral until we have a new source of funding," Condos said. "I think personally tying it somehow to the gas tax is a good idea," Condos said.
Growing rebellion


One indication that the system of property taxes is untenable is a growing rebellion against them, Cole said. Winooski and Essex insisted last year that their CCTA assessment be cut back. No reduction in service resulted, because Cole was able to receive a little extra money from the state to cover the shortfall.

Communities this year are again rebelling against the assessment, and service cutbacks are possible.

This year, South Burlington asked that a small amount of its proposed assessment be cut back.

Shelburne, too, is balking at this year's proposed assessment. The town's proposed CCTA assessment rose by about $14,000 to $60,000, Town Manager Paul Bohne said.

"What the board said was we would tolerate half of that and put it back to the CCTA to put it in their budget, which would probably mean some suspension of service," Bohne said.

An as yet unapproved draft of CCTA's 2004 assessment puts Shelburne's share at $53,857.

Bohne said members of the Shelburne Selectboard were among the growing number of people in Chittenden County who believe property taxes should not pay for public transit.

"If public transportation is going to be successful, the property tax is not going to be the way to go. Too many towns are fighting like crazy against the property tax. It's not just Shelburne that's feeling it," Bohne said.

In Essex, Selectboard Chairman Tom James said he supports Cole and the task force proposal but doubts it will go anywhere this legislative session.

"I find it very difficult to even begin to postulate any kind of likelihood of success in doing that, but I think it's the right direction," James said.

Cole said he has not lined up a legislator to submit a bill on CCTA funding, and a draft bill has not been written.

It's important that this Legislature deal with the CCTA question, he said.

"You never know when the political window of opportunity is open or shut," Cole said. "We'll find out this session whether we pass through or not."
Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkosk@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com