UTA kicks off campaign for transit tax hike

With $500,000 and a lot of grassroots support, transportation advocates in Salt Lake and Utah counties hope to get residents to vote this November for a sales tax hike for new road and transit projects.

They've only got 30 days to win voter support. Friday, business leaders and elected officials from both counties kicked off a campaign supporting the tax hike, known as "Proposition 3" in Salt Lake County and the "Opinion Question" in Utah County.

"This is a discussion and a vote for economic development," said Scott Anderson, president of Zions Bank and co-chair of the 2015 Transportation Alliance during a campaign kick-off on Friday.

He continued: "This is a vote to keep Utah moving."

Both Proposition 3 and the Opinion Question call for a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund road and rail projects. In Utah County, much of the tax money would go to build some road projects and commuter rail between Provo and the Salt Lake County line.

In Salt Lake County, no specific projects have been identified to receive the funding. Before the projects can be identified, county leaders must get legislative approval of a scientific process they created to pick the projects. That approval could be as early as Oct. 17, or after the election.

Jim Bennett, manager of the "road and rails" campaign, said Friday that TRAX extensions and commuter rail stand a good chance of receiving the money in Salt Lake County. Either way, he said, polls show that county residents would support a tax increase for transportation — even without knowing exactly where the money would go.

A recent poll done by Dan Jones & Associates for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV showed that 61 percent of county residents would vote for a quarter-cent tax increase for transportation improvements. The poll of 366 residents was conducted Sept. 25-28. It had a margin of error of 5.1 percent.

During the campaign kick-off, supporters passed out buttons, lawn signs and sheets of paper asking for endorsements and donations. The Utah Transit Authority also unveiled a new commuter rail car for its FrontRunner commuter rail system. The car is a bi-level vehicle with 150 seats. About 240 people can fill the car when standing.

Steve Meyer, UTA manager of commuter rail construction, said Friday that the transit agency is about 40 percent finished with its first phase of commuter rail, from Pleasant View in Weber County to Salt Lake City.

As of last month, about 10 miles of rail had been laid. The first-phase of commuter rail will be 44 miles. It is scheduled to open in late 2007 or early 2008.

Supporters of the two transit initiatives have launched a new Web site for their campaign: www.votefor3.com.

Next week, they plan to launch several radio and television ads. No organized oppositions groups have been identified yet.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com