Agenda - 03-19-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 Commissioner Price said that she is leaning toward Commissioner McKee's concerns. 2 She said that the vehicle registration fee is a burden to some people. She said that there 3 needs to be more robust bus service. She said that it is a lot of money to put into light rail at 4 this time. 5 Commissioner Rich said that she was on the Chapel Hill Town Council and they spoke 6 about this plan in depth. She said that it is her understanding that the first monies that come in 7 will go to bus transit. Wib Gulley verified this. 8 Commissioner Rich asked how quickly the funds will be coming in and Wib Gulley said 9 that it would be as soon as summer or early fall. 10 Commissioner Rich said that she is strongly in favor of this and she is excited to vote for 11 this. 12 Commissioner Price said that the rural areas of the County are not getting the bus 13 service that they deserve. She is really concerned that most of the funds are going to Chapel 14 Hill. She would like to see more because Hillsborough and Efland have grown. There needs to 15 be a more comprehensive bus service in this area. 16 Chair Jacobs said that Chair Pelissier could not be here tonight but she has been 17 supportive of this plan throughout. He made reference to Commissioner Gordon's point that 18 the Board has already made all of these decisions. He said that there will be more robust bus 19 service as the additional funds come forward. He suggested that these concerns be made 20 known to Triangle Transit. He said that the light rail system will particularly serve workers. He 21 said that he does not believe Triangle Transit has been forthcoming about implementing park 22 and ride lots in Cedar Grove, Buckhorn, and the Eno EDD. These things are planned. He said 23 that everything they do is not a quid pro quo and is not always based on where we live. He said 24 that it is a group effort. 25 Chair Jacobs said that he would suggest that the Board look at the second page of the 26 abstract and the first decision is approving the 1A-cent transit tax; the second decision would be 27 the $7 vehicle registration fee, which has two options and Commissioner Gordon made a 28 motion regarding which option to use; and the third decision would be the $3 Triangle Transit 29 vehicle registration tax. 30 Commissioner McKee agreed with Commissioner Rich that the future is now. He said 31 that approximately 30,000 people in Orange County said `no' to the 1A-cent sales tax. He made 32 reference to the $7 vehicle registration fee and said that he is not aware of any other fee where 33 people without access to cars will have to pay a fee for a service that will be provided free to 34 other citizens. For this reason, he cannot support the $7 registration fee because it is 35 fundamentally unfair. 36 A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin, seconded by Commissioner Rich to 37 approve the resolution regarding the 1A-cent transit tax, which will allow TTA to levy the tax 38 pursuant to its statutory authority. This resolution is necessary because TTA previously entered 39 into a "Do Not Levy" agreement with Orange County in which TTA agreed not to levy the tax 40 until requested to do so via a resolution by Orange County. 41 42 43 Res. 2012-112 44 45 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE 46 RESEARCH TRIANGLE REGIONAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY TO LEVY 47 THE ONE HALF CENT 48 (1/2 ¢) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TAX APPROVED BY THE VOTERS OF ORANGE 49 COUNTY