The problem with the gas tax is that it is not administered by the County, while a portion of the sales tax is, with the assistance (collection by) the State of Wisconsin. Of course you would receive no disagreement from me on a philosophical basis.
> Of course, all money should go to roads, because that's how most people > travel. That argument has held sway for a long time. And it's good > that the RTA advocates are making the point that even if those living > far from the existing lines do benefit, from reduced congestion, etc., > from those who do benefit, I think it is about time to start talking a > little more about how they people who don't "benefit" are imposing on > those of us who live closer to downtown with their pollution, etc. The > better direct solution would be to have some sort of tax a la London > plan, but since that's unlikely to happen in "the land of the car," the > least they can do is donate a bit to the RTA. My preference would be to > raise the gas tax and target that percentage to an RTA, rather than the > sales tax. > > "No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." > --James Madison, April 20, 1795 > > > >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 8/10/2007 2:35 PM >>> > > Hello all. > > Thanks, Matt, for this action alert. > > Attached please find a summary I wrote about Transport 2020. I wrote it > after > the completion of phase one of the study in 2002. I updated it in the > past 2 > weeks to include information about the recently completed phase 2 of > the study. > > As Matt indicates, we've been getting a lot of Vicki McKenna-inspired > e-mail on > this topic. I'll dig one out of the archives and forward it to bikies > to show > you the quality of the rhetoric. At first we got simple one-liners like > "stop > the silly trains" (my personal favorite); more recently we've been > getting > soliloquies on the virtues of an automobile-only transportation > system. > > All my best, > > Al Matano > > > Bikies, > > > > If the amount of fuss we caused at the State level is any indication, > a > > lot of you care deeply about finding for bicycling. It turns out > there > > is a great opportunity to voice your support for bicycle funding > right > > here in Dane County. > > > > Here is how you can help: > > > > 1) E-mail your county supervisors in support of the Regional Transit > > Authority proposal. > http://www.countyofdane.com/coboard/supervisors.asp > > > > 2) Make an appointment for Thursday, August 16th at 7:00pm to attend > the > > Dane county supervisors meeting. > > > > 3) Reply to this e-mail if you plan to attend. I will put together > some > > useful background information for people who wish to speak at the > County > > Supervisors meeting. If you have web links to good sources for > > background, please share them! > > > > 4) Keep September 4th open - that's the Madison City Council Meeting > on > > the same topic. > > > > > > You can read some details at the 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Web Site: > > > > http://www.1kfriends.org/ > > > > > > Basically, the Regional Transit Authority (or RTA) that is being > talked > > about will add a 0.5% to the local sales tax, and dedicate a portion > to > > funding bicycling projects. Given the reluctance at the State level > to > > fully fund bicycling according to federal recommendations, the RTA > and > > the tax are sorely needed. Yet, some anti-rail/anti-bike forces are > > starting to rally against the RTA. The RTA plan as I read it really > > helps everybody and it would be a shame to let the anti-smart > > transportation folks win the argument. > > > > Thanks to all! > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Bikies mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > > > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
