TRAX vote a smart choice

The Salt Lake County Council has given voters the opportunity to vastly improve local transportation. Come November, voters will consider whether the county should borrow $895 million to accelerate the construction of four new light-rail lines — to the Salt Lake International Airport, West Valley City, South Jordan and Draper. The new lines could be completed within seven years.

Bond payments would come from property tax assessments, estimated to be about $108 a year on a $200,000 home. Public opinion polls conducted for the Deseret Morning News by Dan Jones & Associates show a solid majority of Salt Lake County residents support the bond issue, even when given the projected costs. The true measure of support will come Nov. 7, when voters go to the polls.

The Deseret Morning News has long championed expansion of the TRAX system. It makes good financial sense to launch this work as soon as possible to help curb costs. So long as there is no legal impediment to the county floating a bond for land, transit and rail if the assets are later turned over to the Utah Transit Authority, there should be broad support for this measure.

But this page is also aware that property tax is one of the most hated of all taxes. There are legislative proposals that would fund the expansion through an increase to fuel or sales taxes in lieu of a property tax increase. While a sales tax approach has legs in the House, the Senate is reticent, since the Legislature only recently lowered the sales tax rate for food. House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, has also proposed using hotel taxes to fund the airport spur, which makes sense on many levels.

Salt Lake County's ballot issue is but one piece of the regional transportation package that would provide more mass transit options, such as commuter rail and bus rapid-transit lines, take cars off the road and add life to the state's substantial investment in highway construction.

Despite the urging of the business community, there is seemingly no political will to conduct a special session of the Legislature to consider these issues. But give the Salt Lake County Council its due for soldiering on with its piece of the puzzle and giving county voters a say in plotting and paying for an integral part of their transportation future.