From Deseret News archives:
Web site pushes transit-tax plan
If passed, the increase would be expected to net $10 million to $12 million annually in revenue for Davis County, $8.7 million in Weber County and $800,000 for the southern Box Elder cities of Brigham City, Perry and Willard.
The Web site, www.nutahtrans.com, will allow residents to get up-to-date information about the tax issue, Stephen Handy, the campaign's spokesman, said in a news release.
Davis, Weber and southern Box Elder County residents will go the polls in November to vote on, among other things, a quarter of a cent sales-tax increase for transportation and transit projects.
And though their community leaders support the increase because of gridlock woes, those leaders are barred from campaigning for the increase because it would mean public dollars would be spent promoting a ballot issue.
Instead, the Davis, Ogden and Weber and Brigham City Area chambers of commerce, with the support of businesses in the three counties, formed the transportation alliance to sell residents on the tax increase, which county and city leaders placed on November's ballot during meetings in June and July.
Davis and Weber counties are expected to use revenue for designing and building roads, as well as buying land for future roads, a concept known as corridor preservation.
In Box Elder County, the revenue would be used to extend the FrontRunner commuter rail line from Pleasant View to Brigham City.
"(The Web site) also offers residents the chance to sign up in support of the campaign and offers them several ways to get involved," Handy said.
The transportation alliance plans to kick off its campaign in mid-August, meaning residents in the three counties will likely see newspaper advertisements, billboards and other signs similar to what Salt Lake and Utah County residents saw when they voted on similar tax increases in 2006.
"The Davis Chamber of Commerce and its members are excited to participate in and support the alliance," said John Pitt, president and CEO, in the news release. "The transportation crisis facing northern Utah affects more than just our county. It affects anyone driving through northern Utah. If you have ever sat in traffic on I-15 in Davis and Weber counties, you know what I mean."
The chambers support the tax increase because they say it would help commerce move better on Utah highways.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com
