From Deseret News archives:
61% back tax hike for TRAX
And 92% in S.L. County want to vote on expansion
And 61 percent said they would be willing to pay higher property taxes to fund light-rail lines to Draper, West Valley City, the Salt Lake City International Airport and to South Jordan.
The poll of 571 county residents by Dan Jones & Associates was commissioned by the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV. The survey took place May 1-4 and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
"It's going to happen," Salt Lake County councilman Joe Hatch said of the TRAX expansion plans, and the November ballot is the first step.
A proposal from the Utah Transit Authority calls for residents to vote on a property-tax increase that would cost an average of $95 a year on a $180,000 home. The poll question incorrectly said the $95 increase would apply to a $200,000 home.
The tax increase would allow Salt Lake County to obtain a 30-year bond for UTA to collect $875 million for the expansions. The federal government and UTA would pick up the rest of the expected $1.25-billion tab.
On Tuesday, UTA is scheduled to update the council about the status of expansion plans.
In an interview Friday, UTA spokesman Justin Jones that he wasn't surprised with the poll results. The numbers indicate that "people recognize and are ready to do something in terms of actually accelerating the plan and being willing to pay for it," he said.
"I think the survey results are a positive indication that we can't wait another 25 years to build these projects."
In 2000, Salt Lake County residents voted for a 1/4-cent sales-tax hike to build commuter rail, increase bus service and expand TRAX by the year 2030. If a property-tax hike is put on the ballot this fall, and county residents vote to support it, TRAX will be expanded by 2015, according to Jones.
Work on all four lines could begin within a year, UTA says.
Lloyd Shell, who lives in the Daybreak community in South Jordan, said the sooner TRAX is expanded, the better. Part of the reason he moved to Daybreak was because of plans to build a TRAX line to the area.
"I commuted for like two years exclusively on light rail in Portland," said Shell, who moved to Utah just over a year ago. "It runs like clockwork, it's always on time. It was great."
The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is now finishing a study of transportation needs in the state, including both transit and roads. Once finished, the association plans to take a position on how to fund those needs, said Natalie Gochnour, vice president of policy and communications for the chamber.
Funding TRAX expansion through a tax hike could be something the chamber will advocate, she said.
