SPEAK OUT: Should a County Gas Tax Pay for the Purple Line?
Some Montgomery County Council members recently suggested that a county gas tax be levied to pay for the Purple Line. Do you agree?
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The future of the Purple Line, with its $1.9 billion price tag, is far from certain.
In fact, many Maryland lawmakers have doubts that the Purple Line will ever be built, due to lack of funds, The Examiner reported:
Though state officials hope to get as much as 50 percent of the costs of these projects from the federal government, the state is on the hook for the rest. And with the state's transportation trust fund lacking funds and state lawmakers having rejected proposals to replenish it this year, several Montgomery County lawmakers are nervous that the money will run out in 2015 and the projects will die.
But one solution, Montgomery County Council Chair Roger Berliner recently suggested, is for Montgomery County to levy its own gas tax to help fund the Purple Line. With a county gas tax, the county gets to keep all of the revenue, NBC Washington reported:
Berliner proposed the idea after the governor's attempt to raise the state gas tax failed. He said state lawmakers most likely will not raise the state's gas tax anytime soon in the face of rising gas prices.
Montgomery County Council Member George Leventhal agreed with Berliner, adding that "the county will also have a tougher time competing for jobs with Virginia without transit and the development it brings," Levanthal said, The Examiner reported.
"We're stagnant. Meanwhile, Virginia is building the Silver Line, and Virginia is putting HOT lanes on the Beltway," he added, The Examiner reported.
Maryland's gas tax has been 23.5 cents per gallon since 1992. Washington, DC's gas tax is the same as Maryland's, but Virginia's, at 19.8 cents a gallon, is a little cheaper, The Examiner reported.
Read more on The Examiner (article from Oct. 8), The Examiner (article from Oct. 10) and NBC Washington.
Do you agree that a county gas tax should be levied to help pay for the Purple Line? Tell us in the comments.
JustABill
10:54 am on Friday, October 12, 2012
NO! ... Absolutely NOT! There is no logic behind raising the gas tax to fund a public rail line. This article quotes "The Examiner" article saying "the state's transportation trust fund lacking funds" but no one in the media ever reports that the reason it is "lacking funds" is because Governor O'Malley and the General Assembly have raided the Transportation Trust Fund to help balance their overspending budgets each year since he took office. The Purple Line has been a boondoggle since its inception and it is time for the whole idea to just go away.
Robert O Eisinger
11:32 am on Friday, October 12, 2012
So, Virginia's gas tax is lower, and they have the funds to build their transportation infrastructure? Firm indication of how poorly Maryland and MC in particular are run.
Now these same guys want to raise the tax, drive out employers because it costs too much to live here (and btw, there isn't any housing for the workforce here, so everyone has to commute which by itself keeps employers out), raise the cost for the residents, to get an obsolete rail line that will operate only with a subsidy from the state, because it can never be profitable. If anyone had any idea what they were doing, it might be obvious, with all this mental waste exposed. Check out a monorail. The only profitable public transportation systems that exist. That is fact. And Bombardier may design it for us, if someone would contact them. It would operate at a profit and is more environmentally friendly, and more desirable to ride. It wouldn't increase costs to live in MC, and it would pay for itself, and it would set MC apart from everyone else.
As for the gas tax? I think we need legislators that are willing to work a little harder and smarter. This idea of a gas tax increase is totally lame!
jag
11:57 am on Friday, October 12, 2012
LOL, you very obviously know nothing about VA's transportation infrastructure.
"Check out a monorail. The only profitable public transportation systems that exist. That is fact."
??????????
LinkMosaic
12:26 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
NO, they should use the Plastic Bag Tax......
jag
12:34 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
Let's go back in time and not elect Gov. Ehrlich so we could have used some of the billions wasted on the ICC for these infrastructure projects that actually, you know, SPUR GROWTH and TAKE CARS OFF THE ROADS INSTEAD OF PUTTING MORE ON THEM. Such a shame. Shame on us for electing such a buffoon.
JustABill
2:47 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
Oh OK jag ... Right out of the Democrat playbook ... when you cannot defend your own record just blame a republican.
If you really want to go back in time to right a wrong then lets go back to when Governor Harry Hughes decided to delay construction of the ICC when it would have cost less than one tenth the amount paid to build it almost 40 years later. And yes, that cost differential was adjusted for inflation.
Then again you seem to forget Kathleen Kennedy Townsend had also pledged to build the ICC if she was elected but she would have used the far more expensive northern route and not made it a toll road to help recoup the costs. SO that would have been a much better option for Maryland I assume because it would have been a Democrat responsible for it right?
The Purple Line will not spur any growth because it is already being run through development saturated areas. The only thing the Purple Line will spur is increased crime in the Bethesda area and ultimately a decline in business. A prime example of this would be the Baltimore Metro from Charles St. to Owings Mills. Within just a few years of it opening retailers in Owings Mills began leaving what was supposed to be a crown jewel mall in Maryland because of the rapid increase in shoplifting, mugging, armed robberies, and related crime in the area.
jag
3:37 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
I don't give a crap what party affiliation Ehrlich had. Hell, I even like the guy (worked with him a bit last year @K&S). The very obvious problem with outdated transportation priorities in this country knows no single party affiliation, but in this state's most recent instance (which I find to be highly relevant, as opposed to you blabbering about a 40 year old precursor to the ICC) we elected a man who made it his priority to blow 2.4 BILLION on a road that's borderline worthless.
You don't have any clue what you're talking about re: the Purple Line. All the stops are in "development saturated areas" - lol. Let me guess, none of those areas need cars taken off the road, either? Let me guess, none of those areas would see an increase in property value due to the PL? Let me guess, you're a flat our racist: "The only thing the Purple Line will spur is increased crime in the Bethesda". Jesus, man. Pathetic. Intellectually, morally - take your pick.
JustABill
6:35 pm on Friday, October 12, 2012
jag ... Just because I make an observation based on statistical facts does not make it a racially based observation. You love to make blind accusations without knowing who you are even speaking to and you clearly do not know the facts or history of the ICC. You "green liberal" claim that adding the purple line will take cars off the road is all warm and fuzzy but in the hypocrisy of the liberal argument supporting the Purple Line they said it was a means of transportation between the two counties mostly for people that do not have cars. They even cited examples of students at UMCP and the poor housekeeper from PG County working for a family in Bethesda. I am sure at some point Gov. O"Malley said it was "for the children" on some radio talk show but that is beside the point.
My point is It was a liberal mindset of people crying "save the brown trout," "save the wood duck," and "save the wetlands" that delayed construction of the ICC when it was originally proposed and that delay is what cost us billions. You cannot blame Gov. Ehrlich for the cost of the ICC when it should have been built four decades ago for far less money, the design of the ICC which was proposed over 40 years ago, or how much use the ICC is currently getting, because had he not been elected his opponent, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, would have built the ICC on a more expensive route and not made it a toll road to help defray the costs.
Just the Facts jag.
jag
12:45 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
What is wrong with your brain. "They even cited examples of students at UMCP and the poor housekeeper from PG County working for a family in Bethesda." ...and in your head that means more crime in Bethesda? You're the definition of a racist.
The ICC proposed 40 years ago looked nothing like the current ICC - DUH. Not that it even matters. The road would have been even more worthless 40 years ago, idiot. If Townsend would have built the ICC (which I'm certainly not convinced she would have) then I'd be cursing her, wtf is your point? You don't have one? Glad to hear it.
Bill
7:25 am on Thursday, October 18, 2012
Yes, I think a gas tax is necessary to keep mass transit projects moving ahead. Without them we'll have unbearable traffic congestion during the coming decade.