Politics & Government

North Fulton CID Spending $250,000 on Transportation Education

A one percent sales tax will be on the ballot in July 2012 that could add billions of dollars to metro Atlanta transportation needs.

Residents in metro Atlanta–including Alpharetta and Milton–will get the chance to vote on a proposed 1 percent sales tax for transportation in July 2012, but it's likely few people understand the Transportation Investment Act that set up these regional votes.

So recently the North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID) committed to spending $250,000 to fund the regional education effort around the Transportation Investment Act

“Educating the public on the 1-percent sales tax for transportation is crucial for our region,” said Ann Hanlon, chief operating officer of the North Fulton CID in a news release. “To remain competitive, metro Atlanta must fund better transportation and more options.”

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 Alpharetta City Councilman Chris Owens said education is critical for voters to make an informed choice at the polls.

"I have consistently told people that they need to go become more educated on this issue because it is a hugely important issue for our region and our state," Owens said.

Find out what's happening in Alpharetta-Miltonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's not my place as a city elected official to tell people how to vote on this issue. I hope they go and become educated on it so they can make an informed choice when the ballot item comes up next year," he said.

 Owens said he hopes that voters will get access to a good, quality education on this issue, just like they should for any election, to make that choice.

The Transportation Investment Act was signed into law in June 2010, putting the future of Georgia's transportation in the voters’ hands. Elected officials in metro Atlanta, along with 11 other regions statewide, will develop a list of regional projects to be funded by a one-percent sales tax. Each region will put its project list before the voters to approve in a ballot measure July 2012.

Should the tax pass in a region, all revenue collected there would stay in that region. Local governments would share 15 percent of the revenues to be spent on any projects they choose. The other 85 percent will be used to fund the list of projects created by each region's transportation roundtable.

In metro Atlanta, the transportation investment act could raise $8 billion for regional transportation improvements. A list of potential projects is being developed and will be included with the ballot measure.


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