Saturday, November 25, 2006

I would love a train, but...

Yes, a train linking Kenosha(which already links to Chicago), Racine and Milwaukee would be great. It would be wonderful to be able to hop on the train for a day and hit the hot spots in Milwaukee. It would be great if I could leave my car at home and take a train to the airport.

But...

We cannot afford a train. No matter how many proposals they have come up with so far, the rail system cannot sustain itself.

Check it out-

But officials still don't know how they'd pay for the service. At a regional transit authority meeting Monday, Yunker suggested the federal government could pick up as much as 90% of the capital cost. Kenosha Transit chief Len Brandrup, an authority member, called that estimate unrealistic. Congress has authorized $80 million for the line to date.

Operating costs would run $14.7 million a year, with fares covering $3.8 million. The Virchow Krause & Co. consulting firm is studying nearly 20 options to pick up the remaining $10.9 million, ranging from sales, gas and property taxes to tax-incremental financing districts that would use tax growth from rising property values near stations.

Brandrup said new property taxes would be "dead on arrival." Milwaukee County public works chief George Torres, another authority member, and state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) said they were intrigued by the tax-district idea. Brandrup said it would take years for property values to grow enough to produce a revenue stream.

For the rest of the story...

We cannot afford a new rail system.

First of all, the new rail system proposal would cost $237 million. The feds are offering to cover $80 million.

This would leave $157 million for the taxpayers of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee to cover!

This is just the start up costs.

After the trains are running, an extra $10.9 million would be charged to the taxpayers each and every single year.

No plan should be supported until someone can come up with a plan that will not cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars.

1 comment:

jeff said...

Relax. There is still much study which will be needed to put together a final proposal which will still have to have legislative approval and local comment before anything happens.