Passengers board an Ozark Regional Transit bus at the Northwest Arkansas Mall
Courtesy photo
The League of Women Voters of Washington County will present a panel discussion of the proposed 0.25 percent sales tax to help fund public transit on Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. inside room 219 of Fayetteville City Hall.
NWA Media political editor Doug Thompson will moderate the event. Panelists include retired Springdale mayor Jerre Van Hoose and NWA Regional Planning Commission executive director Jeff Hawkins.
The discussion will be videotaped by the Fayetteville Government Channel, and broadcast at various times before the May 22 election.
If passed, the tax could bring in about $7.5 million a year to Ozark Regional Transit.
ORT officials have said the additional funds will help the service purchase 40 new vehicles and allow for a service expansion from six routes to 28 over the next ten years.
It’s my understanding that, if passed, the tax revenue will only be to support a public transit system, and is NOT specifically dedicated to Ozark Regional Transit. The Quorum Court will be under no obligation to provide the funds to ORT, and could, conceivably, allow it to be used for any kind of public transit system or project they deem worthy. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
That is all
People should be pay for their own transportation regardless if it is a personal automobile or public transit. This should not fall on the taxpayers to provide free transportation.
People should be pay for their own …
You could say that about any public service. Education, law enforcement, fire protection, libraries, parks, street repairs, medicare. Not all citizens use all these services, so why should all pay? I think the notion of the greater good, however subjective that term is, is usually the answer to that question.
The transportation on ORT buses isn’t free, it costs $1 a ride. The expansion would not only serve more areas, but expand the transit hours to go until midnight, as well as expand to Saturday and Sunday.
Your comment is sad on several levels. There are citizens in Fayetteville who do not have reliable vehicles, or access to vehicles, who would like to become productive citizens and go to work. Those people are severely limited in where they can seek work because of the ORT’s limited service. If these citizens want to work any kind of service job, they can’t work on weekends, because the ORT only runs Monday through Friday. So, the citizens who most need a job can’t get to a job because they also can’t afford maintenance and gas on a vehicle.
Your POV is very narrow and short-sighted. The ORT not only serves those less fortunate, it also services people who are disabled and can’t just hop in a car for a grocery run.
If you were to apply your logic to other public institutions such as schools, well, I don’t have kids, why should I pay property taxes that fund schools? I don’t know how to ride a bike, why should my tax dollars fund the bike trail? When we all pitch in, our entire community benefits. I haven’t ridden a bike since I was five, but I’m happy that a small amount of money from me can help bring enjoyment to so many.
Get out of Arkansas and see the world.
Not to mention that public transportation is less detrimental to the atmosphere. Public transportation reduces fuel consumption (10 riders on a bus is many cars not on the road) thus helping American independence on oil needs, thus keeping prices lower. People who can go to work can pay taxes rather than subsist on government assistance. Consumers who can go to work can also use the savings they have from use of public transportation to purchase goods in the community, thus keeping the dollars local and circulating.
A big problem in this country is that too many people only think of their own problems, and never the problems of someone else in the community. “I don’t use the bus, so why do I care if someone else needs to? Why should I pay taxes so they can ride cheap?”
Don’t you think a lot of people would LOVE to be able to drive an SUV and pay $4 per gallon to run down to [Well-known place on N. College] and buy an overpriced steak? Or go to a doctor’s appointment at the first available time instead of having to schedule it around the availability of public transportation? Many would love that convenience. Some don’t have it. Some can’t afford it. Do you want to just write them off, or do you want to give them a chance to achieve the success and easy life YOU have?
What country do you want to live in? A country that turns its back on those with less, or a country that wants everyone to succeed?
I understand there is need… there always will be, but raising the already 9.25% sales tax to address it is hard to swallow. Several other services benefit our community but to fund all of them fully, we would have a sales tax rate high enough to discourage people from living here instead of surrounding cities. So how high does it need to be? 9.25% seems too high already… it has steadily gone up over the years and we need to draw a line somewhere. I’m not saying the sky will fall at 9.5%, but at some level the high tax rate will hurt our community more than it helps. Also now is not a good time to pass a tax increase imo.
If you think your local and state taxes are high now, wait until the Teabaggers that Arkansas sends to Washington bully the rest of our fine statesmen into gutting the federal government and lowering our record-low income tax rates. As of 2005, Arkansas received $1.41 in federal spending for each dollar of federal income tax paid.
Getting more back than paid in is pretty typical of red states. See http://tinyurl.com/5wghh6
That’s a very juicy little nugget of info. Thanks!
Do we have to fund a piddly addition to an inadequate bus system with yard sales and pocket change while oceans of money are almost automatically available for interstate highways? See today’s local news item on the big push for funding the new federal highway “corridor” through Arkansas (running next to Festaville). This sales-tax-for- buses discussion looks like a well timed distraction, just happening to be simultaneous with the highway lobby’s PR for the freight highway. More highway pavement will make a few new buses redundant very quickly. Keep eyes open and don’t drown in blue sentiment while the highway boys finish turning this area into highway hell for the benefit of “persons” who profit beyond your wildest imagination from our taxes.