TUCSON, Arizona (13 News) – The dispute between the City of Tucson and the Regional Transportation Authority has been going on for several years now, and as a possible new half-cent sales tax is debated, the dispute continues to heat up.
The RTA was created after voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase in 2006 to fund transportation projects throughout the region.
The city claims that it is being taken advantage of by the RTA: it invests around two-thirds of the funds, but only gets about half of them back for its projects.
Negotiations on these projects, such as the improvements to 1st Avenue from River to Grant, took two years because Tucson wanted to reduce the scope of the project despite the RTA’s objections.
Now the RTA has signed a new proposal, which will be submitted to the full council for approval or rejection.
A memo from the city outlining the new proposal can be found HERE.
“The proposal is leaning toward Tucson, and we’ll have time this fall to look at it in depth,” said Kevin Dahl, who represents the city’s Third District.
The trend is heading to Tucson, but is it big enough to convince the city to join RTA Next? That’s the future version of the half-cent sales tax.
Over the last two decades, it has financed things like new roads, modern trams, new intersections, bus stops and public transport projects.
But Tucson is the big problem when it comes to extending the sales tax for the next 20 years. A public vote would have to take place before it can be implemented.
If Tucson supports the plan, it will likely go ahead. If the city opposes it, it will likely not go ahead.
Some on the city council have concerns.
“I’m looking at two things,” Dahl said. “Will this benefit the people of Tucson as much as it should, and will the administration be an administration I can trust?”
Many Tucson city leaders believe the city is not benefiting enough from this.
They argue that Tucson must be at the forefront of funding projects and that the amount must be proportionate to the state’s contributions.
Even though city leaders say they should get a bigger piece of the pie, the cap is just over 55 percent, according to the latest proposal the city will discuss at a meeting on Tuesday.
That’s probably not enough to make her happy.
“Regional transit is the way to go if it can be equitable and well managed and if it meets the needs of Tucson residents,” Dahl said. “And our needs are different from those of the people of northern Oro Valley.”
Tucson has demanded that road maintenance be part of the deal. For the first time, the RTA has allocated $20 million to $200 million for road maintenance projects. How much we spend depends on how much tax money is collected.
The idea is to get Tucson on board, but there are members of the city council who say they don’t trust RTA management to do the right thing.
“Although the proposal tends to be more beneficial to Tucson, I haven’t seen any progress on the management side of things,” Dahl said. “So that will be on my mind as I consider whether or not to support this.”
Dahl is seeking a complete overhaul of RTA management.
The council meeting starts at 1pm. You can follow it HERE.
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