Agenda - 04-19-2005-9b - Laserfiche WebLink

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PRINCIPLES FOR ESTABLISHING ADEQUATE AND RELIABLE FUNDING OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE TRIANGLE AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE FRAMEWORK The North Carolina State Transportation Plan, adopted by the NCDOT in September 2004, identifies $84 billion in statewide needs over 25 years, with $55 billion in anticipated revenues, leaving a funding gap approaching $.30 billion dollars. The plan's centerpiece is a $55 billion Recommended Investment Scenario that would focus on maintaining and modernizing the existing system, with more limited new construction targeted to roads and transit networks with the highest use and serving statewide mobility. At the same time, the equity formula may result in a 2006-2012 Iransportation Improvement Program that shifts about $300 million in funding that was expected in the region to other azeas. The Triangle Regional Transportation Sb°ategy -sponsored by the Mayors of Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh, and by the private-sector Regional Transportation Alliance -identified general, order-of-magnitude transportation needs in Wake, Durham and Orange Counties. First developed in 2000, the most recent estimate is that the region faces a funding gap of about $8 billion over the next 25 vears for a ranee of roadway and transit projects; if spread evenly over the 25 years, this gap would average $320 million per yeaz. The strategy did not specify projects, priorities, or the timing of projects, nor address needs in other Triangle counties. The Capital Area MPO (CAMPO) and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Cazrboro (DCHC) MPO adopted 20.30 Long Range Transportation Plans in September 2004. The total 25-year cost for the combined plans is $14.0 billion ($6.1 billion for DCHC and $7.9 billion for CAMPO). Together, the two plans assume $2 billion in new revenue over and above existing sources, a regionwide average approaching $100 million year if beginning around 2010 and extending at the same level to 2030. The Regional Transportation Alliance (R.TA), the mayors of the four largest cities, and the Regional Transportation Strategy Group (composed of representatives of the RTA, the mayors, county commissioners and other interested professionals) have discussed various alternative revemies for the past few years. The evolving discussion has centered on a local option revenue source that would be applied at the county level, requiring a leadership role on the part of County Commissioners who would ultimately be responsible for instituting any revenue sources.. Although several different combinations of revenue sources have been discussed, most of the focus has centered on a general sales tax, a sales tax specific to motor fuel, a vehicle registration fee, transportation impact fees and/or toll roads..