Opinion
Smaller Step
THE SUNCOAST NEWS
Published: October 18, 2008
When the Legislature voted in May 2007 to create the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, hailed the move as a "tremendous victory" for the Suncoast. TBARTA, he predicted at the time, will "have a huge impact in addressing our transportation needs." Barely 18 months later, getting TBARTA into a state in which it can do anything about the transportation problems in Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough and four other counties in west-central Florida is proving a difficult task.Published: October 18, 2008
As The Tampa Tribune reported this week, Fasano and other TBARTA supporters say current economic problems here and around the nation make this a bad time to consider creating a TBARTA taxing district. Many officials had envisioned the taxing district as a way to pay for the authority's road and transit system building. Now, however, "No legislator, Democrat or Republican, is in favor of creating a taxing district," Fasano told the Tribune.
The area's worst road woes are along the major commuter routes in Hillsborough County. So the best course, one Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio is backing, would be concentrating whatever transit system planning and construction that could be afforded in Hillsborough until improved economic conditions make creating a taxing district covering all of TBARTA Land less unpalatable to lawmakers.