Task force wants rail tax votes for Pinellas, region

A Pinellas County transportation task force on Monday recommended the county vote to increase the sales tax to fund light rail and other mobility plans while urging other counties to simultaneously do likewise to create a regional rail network.

The task force, most of whom are elected and business officials, recommended the county commission set a referendum on a 1-cent on the dollar sales tax increase to be held between the spring of 2012 and spring of 2013.

That would give planners time to complete a study by the end of 2011 required to apply for federal matching funds and let voters know the specific rail routes and costs.

Hillsborough County left those questions unanswered leading to its Nov. 2 referendum, which failed by a 58-42 percent vote, a point not lost on the Pinellas group that vowed to learn from their neighbor's lessons.

The task force agreed a regional approach would enhance public understanding and support of transit opportunities, but wanted Pinellas to take the initiative with light rail if need be.

"We would coordinate with other counties at the same time, but if Pinellas would go for it and Hillsborough would not, it would not affect Pinellas," task force member NielAllen,a Realtorat Century 21 Coast to Coast Realty said.

Pinellas County Commission Chair Karen Seel, who heads the task force, said it was likely the group's recommendation would be delivered to the county commission in January.

No one has formally contacted representatives of Hillsborough and Pasco counties on possibly holding referendums at the same time, Seel said.

She said Pasco representatives on the seven-county Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority have indicated they'd be interested in regional initiatives, while Hillsborough transit advocates are just beginning to sort out what to do next following the referendum defeat.

The Pinellas task force last month raised the possibility of asking state legislators to create a regional transportation district, similar to transportation clusters Georgia has created among its counties to plan and fund regional transit initiatives.

The group on Monday voted against a regional attempt at voting or funding, however, based on a lack of anticipated support from local legislators. Still, the task force emphasized the promise of a regional transportation approach.

"Hillsborough and Pinellas need to be together," said Craig Sher, task force member and executive director of the Sembler Co. shopping center development and management firms. "We need to jump off the Howard Frankland Bridge together."

"Please do," an unidentified member of the audience of about 75 people responded, a sizable contingent of whom identified themselves as part of a regional Tea Party movement that opposes rail initiatives.

Other whispers throughout the discussion, along with three speakers who got to speak after the task force made its recommendations, indicates a divide on rail issues that will likely take more than a concerted education effort to reconcile.

"'Spin' is not the word," St. Petersburg resident Hamilton Hanson said of the task force discussion. "It was outright flim-flam."

The task force, to the cheers of the Tea party representatives, voted against increasing the Pinellas County local gas tax option by 5 cents per gallon, reasoning it would both complicate and possibly interfere with people voting for the tax increase.

The group also recommended deferring a decision on whether to decrease or eliminate the property tax that supports the county's bus system until officials figure out details and finances of the rail and bus enhancement.

Pinellas County's proposed light rail would run 26 miles between Clearwater, the Gateway area in mid-county and St. Petersburg and eventually provide a rail link to Tampa over a new span of the Howard Frankland Bridge by 2025.

While most of the $120 million a year generated by a 1-cent on the dollar sales tax increase would be used for Pinellas' light rail system and enhanced bus service, 12 percent would be used for roads, sidewalks and trails.