Transit Tax Information

• The stated goal of the tax is to fund the creation of a light rail system for Durham County and a week-day, rush hour only, commuter train from Durham thru RTP to Raleigh, and to increase bus service in Durham County from the current 177,000 hours per year to 254,000 hours per year.
• For the first 3 years, the tax would fund expanded bus services.
• We see no reason why we need expanded bus services when the current bus lines have tremendous unused capacity.
• The proposed tax would be a 25% increase in the Durham County tax rate.
• The plan calls for light rail linking Durham and Chapel Hill, and limited commuter rail to Raleigh. Both the Orange and Wake County Commissioners voted earlier this year against putting this sales tax on the 2011 ballot to fund their portions of the plan. Only the Durham County Commissioners have voted in favor of the tax.  The Durham Commissioners said they won’t begin collecting the tax until Wake and Orange counties hold public votes on the same issue (likely in 2012), but this decision does not appear to be binding; they can change their mind!  And we could be paying the regional transit tax with no other county on board.
• The plan assumes that the NC Department of Transportation will provide a $465 million dollar subsidy for the project and the federal government will provide an additional $926 million dollar handout.
• These are very large assumptions given the dire financial situation of both the state and federal government.  If fiscal sanity is restored to Raleigh and Washington DC, it is highly unlikely that rail projects would get funded.  Therefore, if we proceed with the rail plan but either the federal government or the state government decides that they cannot afford these grants, Durham citizens are going to get stuck with the bill!

Our Recommendation: Vote Against

Our Alternative Proposal

• To improve both the efficiency and capacity of bus services, we suggest reducing the current bus sizes.  By running smaller buses where appropriate, we can afford to expand bus routes and schedules
• A rail project is inappropriate for the Raleigh/Durham area. Bus shuttles should be utilized to provide mass transit at lower cost and greater flexibility.
• Finally, we suggest removing legal barriers that prevent private companies from offering bus or shuttle services.

Education Tax Information

• The biggest problem with the Education Tax proposal is that the County Commissioners are not required to disburse the funds collected to the Board of Education.  Hence this is an “education tax” in name only.   It is simply a general revenue tax hike masquerading as education funding.
• One of the purported uses of the tax is to fund school debt service. If the Board of Education has, in fact, accrued debts beyond its ability to repay, there has been serious fiscal mismanagement that needs to be understood and addressed.
• This tax is only on the ballot in 2011 simply because the County Commissioners are planning on raising your property taxes in 2012.
• This tax would not apply to groceries, prescription drugs, utilities, housing and motor vehicles.  In other words, the tax applies to shoppers.  Shoppers drive from miles around to shop at Southpoint.   If we add this tax to purchases at Southpoint and other Durham retailers, shoppers will choose to go elsewhere.  The responsibility of our elected officials is to help small businesses.  This sales tax will hurt Durham retailers and therefore our local economy.  It will reduce the number of retail jobs available in Durham, shipping them to Wake and Orange Counties.

Our Recommendation: Vote Against

Our Alternative Proposal

• The so called “education tax” is simply a general revenue measure.  Fiscally irresponsible governments always threaten to cut vital services first rather than reign in spending.  In essence, our recommendation on this tax proposal is a vote of No Confidence in our county commission.
• We must continue to support charter schools and other educational reforms to put our schools on the right track.  Throwing taxpayers’ dollars at schools simply to continue the same old failed policies is NOT the answer.