Setzler, who chairs the Cobb Legislative Delegation, said he and state Reps. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna) and Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) have filed House Resolution 1350 and the enabling legislation, HB 938, which would:
* Eliminate the TIA referendum set for July 31;
* Ask voters to amend the state constitution in November to allow for a regional transportation mechanism, thereby solving the question of whether the TIA is constitutional or not;
* Allow counties to band together in whatever combination they want through intergovernmental agreements and call for a transportation referendum;
* Allow counties to opt in to the proposed tax once their county commissions have ratified a transportation project list;
* Call for a July 2014 transportation referendum;
* Give counties the option to levy a fraction of a penny for the 10-year tax;
* Require the county or counties who are sponsoring a fixed transit system, such as light rail, to agree to pay for the ongoing operations of that transit system after the 10-year tax.
Setzler said he and other lawmakers have questioned the legality of the tax for years.
“I believe the TIA in its current structure is not constitutional under the Georgia constitution,” Setzler said, adding that there was broad consensus among General Assembly members in 2008 and 2009 a constitutional amendment had to be approved to address the transportation funding regionally. But such an amendment was never passed.
“Secondly, I believe any long-term regional solution needs to have an opt-in process,” he said. “(The counties) form the regions themselves, and arbitrary regions are not established by the General Assembly, and most importantly that it gives counties the power of self-determination. That’s paramount.”
The project list itself is also flawed, he said.
“It has transit projects for which there is no long-term funding stream, does not address traffic relief … and it provides a substantial subsidy of the existing MARTA system, which was specifically prohibited in the TIA law,” Setzler said.
By postponing the vote for two years to eliminate these flaws, metro Atlanta can see real traffic relief, he said.
Setzler said the proposal should not come as a surprise to lawmakers.
“Proposals like this have been talked about for some time at the Capitol,” he said. “This is very similar to the plan proposed by the state Senate in 2009, which received overwhelming support though the state senate. This concept is not a new one at the Capitol, but one that I think is essential if we’re really going to deliver traffic relief.”
As to whether Gov. Deal would consider Setzler’s proposal, his spokesman, Brian Robinson, said Deal’s policy is not to comment on pending legislation.
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Even when Lee and mathews knew that a mojority of Cobb citizens were against the light rail they still kept it on Cobb proposed project list.
They did it because a select few special interest groups (the Cobb Chamber, Cumberland CID and MARTA) wanted it.
Why do you think they changed their minds and abandoned the light rail idea?
If the process had truly been open to the public that project would not have made the list in the first place.
We definitely need a do over and believe me a lot more scrutiny will be brought to bear.
And where exactly is that requirement for a local resolution found in the enabling legislation?
How original!
Since the Roundtable rascals perverted the intent of the legislation to their own local interests, I think it makes sense to go back to the drawing board and come up with some regionally significant projects.
In what alternate universe does that make any sense? We wait two more years in addressing traffic relief in order to see real traffic relief. Does not compute Will Robinson.
Also, if this legislation were so Unconstitutional, why did Representative Setzler cast his vote for it in the first place?
It would be worth the delay to come up with a legitimate project list that actually addresses our REGIONAL congestion problems.
I sincerely hope cobb county chooses to move our region forward. This wont be a boondoggle or tax payer waste if we all get involved and really push the issue. I just hope you guys really look into this opportunity for our region and really pay attention and ask questions about how it benefits you.
Let counties work out co-sponsored projects.
I have sent this change request to Ed. I hope he will make the required changes to their legislation.
We have 159 counties. The logical and sensible conclusion of this proposal is to consolidate the counties. When we get down to a dozen, we'd be saving enough money to four-lane every pig trail in Georgia.
First of all, the traffic problem is 2 fold. First are the travelers passing thru the area on the interstate system. Have you noticed the % of cars with out-of-state (and out-of-area) plates? You need to study those traffic patterns and work to get these people off our area highways. What happened to the northern arc?
The second issue is that building roads (toll or not) is NOT a 21st century solution. Take these massive dollars that you want to spend building roads and use them as tax incentives for employers. There are many people in the metro area who have jobs which do not require them to fight traffic and sit in an office. If people can telecommute, not only does that get people off the road, it reduces our carbon footprint; reduces our dependency on oil and helps reduce the ozone levels in the area. Remember the Summer months with Red Alerts; they will be here again soon. Not having to commute for 2-4 hours each day reduces stress and makes workers more productive. And with telecommuters, the overhead costs of putting someone in an office is reduced tremendously. Hello employers, this is something you should get on the bandwagon for; tax incentives, healthier and more productive employees, and lowered operating expenses. Should be a no-brainer.
Why is it that in Cobb and metro Atlanta the thought to relieve traffic is always to build more roads? That was a 20th century solution, let's move forward, after all it is 2012.
All Rep. Seltzer is saying is that we need a plan that holds forth a real REGIONAL transportation solution.
The only way to do that is to revisit the ridiculous project list that was formulated by a bunch of parochial politicians.
The current TIA project list is not even a step in the right direction.
It is a bunch of uncoordinated local transportation projects.
Let's not do something just to be doing something!!
Let's do it right the first time.
We won't get a second chance.
Remember that a huge misinformation campaign touting the supposed benefits of this boondoggle will be going on from now until the vote in July.
If it passes we will be stuck even if the voters in Cobb County vote overwhelmingly against it.
needs to be done now.
“I believe the TIA in its current structure is not constitutional under the Georgia constitution,”
He is correct and if home owners had more money to sue they would win!!
The phrase "do something, even if it's wrong" should not be the prevailing mindset.
and moving forward with the TIA, as it is currently proposed, is the wrong thing to do.
Of course, it may not be wrong for certain special interest groups that look at this as a golden opportunity to create their own little slush fund.
and
It's certainly not wrong for Kasim Reed since he was getting Cobb County taxpayers to pay for a light rail system in Atlanta
and
it isn't wrong for MARTA since they were basically being bailed out of some of their own self inflicted financial problems.
but
It is definitely wrong for Cobb County
and
if the other counties/cities were paying attention they would realize something much better could be formulated for the $7.2 Billion price tag.
Here's hoping that Ed and Rick are successful in their efforts.
Unfortunately, the whole point of the HOT lanes are based on the premise of most people refusing to pay exorbitant tolls to ride in the lanes. HOT lanes aren't designed to provide congestion relief on the entire roadway, but only in the lanes on which the tolls are placed as the more traffic is in the lanes, the higher the tolls are to push most of that heavy traffic out of the lanes. If you think that $5.00-plus tolls is high just wait until they raise the tolls to $10.00 and higher for the same distance like they are in California where rush-hour drivers get to sit in still crowded general purpose lanes while staring at virtually empty HOT lanes, save for the occasional bus and three-person carpools. Meanwhile monthly bills to ride in the HOT lanes in a single or double-occupant vehicle can run as high as $500.00 each month for the few desperate souls who choose to utilize the lanes.