Mayors backing transit tax hike

PROVO — Utah County mayors agree: It's time to step up and fund transportation.

Mayors voiced unanimous support Thursday night for putting on the ballot in November a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund road and transit projects — including commuter rail — in Utah County.

Darrell Cook, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments, called the mayors' support a "giant leap forward" in addressing the county's growing transportation needs.

The recommendation was made during a meeting of the Mountainland Metropolitan Planning Organization, the designated transportation-planning entity for Utah County consisting of elected county and city government officials.

It's now up to the Utah County Commission to put the proposed tax increase before the voting public — something the commission attempted to do in 2004.

"There's a favorable look being given to it," said Larry Ellertson, commission chairman.

A quarter-cent sales tax currently is applied to transit operations in Utah County. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Orem, and passed in 2003 gives county leaders the option of putting a second quarter-cent on the ballot to fund transportation projects.

If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, estimates show the tax generating more than $600 million for Utah County transportation projects by 2030.

Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties already have dedicated a second quarter-cent to transit projects. Construction of a commuter rail service connecting those three counties is under way and expected to be up and running in 2008.

"Commuter rail in the north is happening because those three counties took that step," Cook said.

The quarter-cent sales tax increase, known as the "Alexander Quarter," nearly made it onto the ballot in 2004 but stalled less than a month before the election.

Mayors were opposed to the tax increase, and Commissioner Steve White ultimately sided with then-Commissioner Gary Herbert to put off raising local taxes in hopes that state tax funds would materialize after the 2005 legislative session.

At the time, Commissioner Jerry Grover called the flip-flop "probably the dumbest thing we've done as a commission."

It is estimated that $15 million would have been raised last year to fund transportation projects in the county had the "Alexander Quarter" gone into effect.

Cook was hesitant to support the tax increase in 2004, at the time saying he was worried the county would lose out on better opportunities — such as matching funds from the state — if the commission elected to put the tax hike on the ballot.

Now, he says, the timing is right.