Civic group to push bus tax
An 18-member group has emerged to take on the task of ushering support and seeking a dedicated tax for the parish’s nearly bankrupt bus system.
Earlier this year, the mayor-appointed Blue Ribbon Commission studied and developed a series of recommendations that would provide long-term stability and improvements for the Capital Area Transit System.
The Baton Rouge Transit Coalition, which has many familiar faces from the Blue Ribbon Commission, announced Thursday it would take on the commission’s recommendations by campaigning for support from the public and working with elected officials.
“Ultimately, we have recommended that there must be a dedicated revenue stream to keep us from this endless cycle of insanity that we have found ourselves in year after year after year,” said the Rev. Raymond Jetson, a coalition member and the former chairman of the Blue Ribbon Commission.
The self-appointed implementation team has representation from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, faith-based groups, CATS, local businesses and planning groups like Center For Planning Excellence and the Parish Redevelopment Authority.
But the coalition may be a moot point if CATS is unable to keep its buses running past July because of a lack of funding.
CATS is facing a $2.1 million deficit in a budget currently projected at $12.6 million. If short-term funds are not identified, CATS will either cut services by 46 percent next year or shut down in July.
CATS officials said they are holding out hope that the Metro Council will find more money for them in the $746 million 2012 city-parish budget set for approval Tuesday to save CATS.
The coalition is not taking on the task of finding short-term funds for CATS in 2012, but, Jetson said, if CATS is dissolved in 2012, it could derail the coalition’s long-term plans for public transportation.
“While the short-term situation is not what we’re tasked with, we’re at a juncture where obviously we must be cognizant of the short term because unless it is effectively addressed, it is asinine to discuss a long-term plan,” Jetson said.
In the event that CATS is not funded through 2012, Jetson said, the coalition will meet and reassess what role it can plan, if any at all.
CATS CEO Brian Marshall said he welcomes the help of the coalition.
“This is public participation at its greatest,” he said.
The Blue Ribbon Commission made several recommendations this summer, including the creation of a special taxing district that encompasses the areas in the parish currently served or expected to be served by CATS.
The district excludes Central, Zachary and the unincorporated area at the southeast tip of the parish.
The district, which requires state legislative approval, would allow CATS to levy a sales tax.
If the taxing district is approved, CATS will ask voters in 2012 to approve what is being estimated as a quarter-cent sales tax and four-mill property tax, based on the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendations.
The new transit coalition has already identified members of the state Legislature who have expressed interest in authoring a bill to create the special taxing district, coalition member Cassie Felder said. Felder said she wouldn’t name the legislators until their commitments were finalized.
Members of the coalition will lobby legislators to support the district.
The coalition will also work to raise funds and develop a campaign to educate the public about the benefits of supporting public transportation while mitigating the negative public opinion surrounding CATS.
The coalition is passing out pledge cards in the community to try to obtain commitments from individuals and groups who agree to support a tax to fund public transit.
Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle said she doesn’t think the tax election can come fast enough.
“The tax is a huge piece of this for CATS,” she said. “The sooner we address that, the better it’s going to be.”
In the short term, Marcelle said, some council members are poring through the budget to identify possible funds to give to CATS, but the council is also receiving competing requests from other parish agencies for financial help.
“Ultimately, I think the mayor (Mayor-President Kip Holden) is going to pull a rabbit out of his hat,” she said.
The coalition members are: David Aguillard, Catholic Charities; Jeanne George, AARP; Ryan Gremillion and Meg Mahoney, BRAC; the Rev. Jennifer Jones-Bridgett, PICO Louisiana; Alvin Herring, Working Interfaith Network; Homer Charles, Group Construction LLC; Helena Cunningham, Parish Mortgage Finance Authority; Ann Trappey, Forte and Tablada Engineers; Carmen Weisner, National Association of Social Workers; Felder, Forum 35; Rachel DiResto, CPEX; Jetson, Star Hill Church; Chris Tyson, LSU Law School; Mark Goodson, Parish Redevelopment Authority; Angele Davis, Davis Kelly Group; Creighton Abadie, Lindsay & Abadie Attorneys at Law; Jared Loftus, CATS Board of Directors; Leroy Watts, Liberty Bank; and Edgar Cage, Together Baton Rouge.