RTA Governance

[mkohut]

The question is who has the lease amount of baggage.

I don't think Emanuel has much weight with the College Clowns.He wasn't able to then to get Pension Reform done.

Meanwhile Quinn has been doing some no bid contracts.

I still think IDOT needs to reform it self with the amount of money being spend for salaries and benefits.

Lipinski might have the last say if they try for any project with Federal Money.

[Busjack]

....

Lipinski might have the last say if they try for any project with Federal Money.

Maybe, but the continuing theme (at least in the CTA Tattler) was "it is the Republicans' fault that there isn't any transit money in the [then proposed] federal Transportation Bill." You can rest assured that would be the theme rather than "the state didn't listen to Lipinski" or "after gerrymandering out of office those in favor of a bipartisan approach to transit, the Democrats who replaced them in Congress did nothing."

Anyway, that would deprive Durbin of press releases for grants with which he had very little to do.

With regard to Emanuel, maybe he did not have much influence on pension reform, or got suckered into a school employees labor relations statute that showed the way on how to call a strike, but I'm sure it would be a different situation if you took away one of his patronage and power centers. Same with all of the Daleys. If the Zucarrelli mess (a Quinn appointment) had not come up, don't you think that Chicago politicians would rely on "this is only about Metra, not the CTA?"

[mkohut]

When the College Clowns get back in session this fall.

Franks is going to have a bill that will that will fix Quinn loophold.But,will have to make sure its veto proof.

Also,it will be interesting to see how many reform bills there are for the CTA,RTA,Metra,or Pace.

[Busjack]

When the College Clowns get back in session this fall.

Franks is going to have a bill that will that will fix Quinn loophold.But,will have to make sure its veto proof.

Also,it will be interesting to see how many reform bills there are for the CTA,RTA,Metra,or Pace.

The questions may be whether there is any comprehensive bill, and whether Franks can get anything out of committee. Just adding "township" to "municipal government" in the double dipping section of the MTA Act isn't going to accomplish much. In fact, I wrote Franks that the "business ability" and "recognized ability and experience in the operation of transportation systems" requirements of the MTA Act are being ignored, and good luck with fixing that.

BTW, I'm not going to bother writing my rep again (who is otherwise occupied in Springfield at the moment) nor the panel.

[mkohut]

There is a chance the RTA being dump for CMAP.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/22344519-418/world-class-transit-system-could-mean-oversight-shift-fare-tax-hike-brown.html

[mkohut]

Its the blind leading the blind.

http://www.suntimes.com/22360648-761/critics-knock-669608-cost-for-state-capitol-doors-it-doesnt-look-right.html

[Busjack]

There is a chance the RTA being dump for CMAP.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/22344519-418/world-class-transit-system-could-mean-oversight-shift-fare-tax-hike-brown.html

Ranney has been saying that from about a year ago, and it has been going nowhere, which is why I again said that Quinn was setting up the panel to fail.

In fact, you were the one who posted it then.

[mkohut]

Ranney has been saying that from about a year ago, and it has been going nowhere, which is why I again said that Quinn was setting up the panel to fail.

In fact, you were the one who posted it then.

I totally forgot about it. But, it is interesting some members aren't saying nothing.Is Ranney speaking for everybody?

[mkohut]

There is a update on the RTA Lawsuit.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130903/BLOGS02/130909963/judge-dismisses-part-of-rta-suit-over-sales-taxes

[Busjack]

There is a update on the RTA Lawsuit.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130903/BLOGS02/130909963/judge-dismisses-part-of-rta-suit-over-sales-taxes

Having read the court document linked in that story, the RTA's response in Crain's that it is normal legal back and forth is correct. The essence of the decision is that RTA can't complain about the tax rebate agreements between the merchants and Channahon and Kankakee themselves, because they are irrelevant if the merchants do not have an operation in the RTA area. Instead, the RTA has to give particulars of merchants who do have operations in the RTA area who are misreporting that their sales offices are in those two municipalities.

Thanks for the link.

[mkohut]

Having read the court document linked in that story, the RTA's response in Crain's that it is normal legal back and forth is correct. The essence of the decision is that RTA can't complain about the tax rebate agreements between the merchants and Channahon and Kankakee themselves, because they are irrelevant if the merchants do not have an operation in the RTA area. Instead, the RTA has to give particulars of merchants who do have operations in the RTA area who are misreporting that their sales offices are in those two municipalities.

Thanks for the link.

Your Welcome Busjack

I'm wondering if this will be something Quinn panel address to end the loophole.

[Busjack]

Your Welcome Busjack

I'm wondering if this will be something Quinn panel address to end the loophole.

No. They have enough on their table.

To bypass the need for a court decision, the legislature would have to pass an amendment to the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (which is what the sales tax actually is). Note that this is not purely an RTA issue, as Cook County, Chicago and Skokie are also plaintiffs in this case, and there are supposedly other cases brought by other suburbs.

As far as such an amendment's chances, there was a clown from the Chicago Heights area who wanted to codify the rule on which the theory that the small cities are the place where the sales occur, but was exposed before the bill advanced.

[mkohut]

No. They have enough on their table.

To bypass the need for a court decision, the legislature would have to pass an amendment to the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (which is what the sales tax actually is). Note that this is not purely an RTA issue, as Cook County, Chicago and Skokie are also plaintiffs in this case, and there are supposedly other cases brought by other suburbs.

As far as such an amendment's chances, there was a clown from the Chicago Heights area who wanted to codify the rule on which the theory that the small cities are the place where the sales occur, but was exposed before the bill advanced.

This was in the Sun Times article.

By the way, a key

underpinning of Metropolis Strategies’ transit strategy is to find

increased revenue to invest in the system in the form of higher taxes or

fares — or both.

In a 2007 report, the group

suggested the Legislature either impose a gasoline or parking tax for

the RTA, raise the RTA sales tax or broaden it to include consumer

services — or reconfigure the fare system based on such factors as

distance, speed and time of day.

[Busjack]

This was in the Sun Times article.

By the way, a key

underpinning of Metropolis Strategies’ transit strategy is to find

increased revenue to invest in the system in the form of higher taxes or

fares — or both.

In a 2007 report, the group

suggested the Legislature either impose a gasoline or parking tax for

the RTA, raise the RTA sales tax or broaden it to include consumer

services — or reconfigure the fare system based on such factors as

distance, speed and time of day.

The question is whether this applies to 2007 or 2013.

In 2007, there was still the debate over was Blago going to let tax increases through to avert Doomsday on CTA, and secondarily on Pace. Of course, the sales tax was increased in 2008, and the real estate transfer tax was then imposed in Chicago to pay for CTA pension bonds. Then the whole economy, and especially real estate transfers tanked in late 2008, not recovering to prerecession levels until recently.

Obviously, nobody is going to get a tax increase now (especially with the subsequent state income tax increase now becoming a political hot potato and the various Metra scandals), and Emanuel lied about no fare increases (unless one really wants to hold him to "I only meant the $2.25 basic fare").

The other thing to take into account is my frequent statement that in 2008, "we got the tax increases without the reforms." There was the Auditor General's report then, which focused extensively on service overlaps between the 3 boards and that Metra riders past zone E (basically outside Cook County) were not paying their share of the fares, due to the constant slope of the fare chart past zone C. There was also a legislatively mandated study of paratransit, which basically found that besides better dispatch, it should be a shared ride system that only fed into other accessible services. You can tell that absolutely nothing was done about any of those recommendations.

Note also that all of this was on the table before the two Metra scandals.

[mkohut]

Blago was holding everybody hostage with his Everybody Rides Free.for a tax increase.

I can't remember actually who.But,they say a 10 to 20 cents tax hike on gas.was needed.

When they did the planning for 2030.

[Busjack]

Blago was holding everybody hostage with his Everybody Rides Free.for a tax increase.

I can't remember actually who.But,they say a 10 to 20 cents tax hike on gas.was needed.

When they did the planning for 2030.

That certainly is not going to go over now, with Chicago area gas prices pretty consistently the highest in the nation.

On the federal level, there is the problem that hybrid and electric cars and better fuel economy mean that the gas tax is not pulling in enough money, unless they do something like put a gps in each car and tax it on miles driven.

The only thing that might be close to their platform is that Emanuel said that some of the parking tax increase went into the Cermak-Green Line station project.

[mkohut]

The Cermak-Green Line was 50 million.I guess somebody political pals wasn't making enough money.So they found other stuff to make it 92 million.

[mkohut]

There is a war going on

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/22509453-452/dueling-rta-letters-show-reform-debate-really-a-battle-over-money-and-power-brown.html

[Busjack]

There is a war going on

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/22509453-452/dueling-rta-letters-show-reform-debate-really-a-battle-over-money-and-power-brown.html

That column coalesces what I have said for a long time--the suburbs pay for the CTA, and Emanuel's goal is to abolish the RTA. Then you have the usual b.s. "Spokesmen for both the city and CTA denied any involvement, but said they had been briefed in advance of its contents. A spokesman for the mayor said the letter reflects viewpoints that the mayor has expressed publicly."

Of course, everything around here is either money or power/politics. Even Daley II acknowledged so, once in reference to Ryan's corruption, and again with respect to the International Olympic Committee. And he ought to know.

So, I have to take my hat off to Brown for saying this so succinctly.

[mkohut]

That column coalesces what I have said for a long time--the suburbs pay for the CTA, and Emanuel's goal is to abolish the RTA. Then you have the usual b.s. "Spokesmen for both the city and CTA denied any involvement, but said they had been briefed in advance of its contents. A spokesman for the mayor said the letter reflects viewpoints that the mayor has expressed publicly."

Of course, everything around here is either money or power/politics. Even Daley II acknowledged so, once in reference to Ryan's corruption, and again with respect to the International Olympic Committee. And he ought to know.

So, I have to take my hat off to Brown for saying this so succinctly.

I would love Emanuel ego get a reality check.Along with a 205,000 Claypool.

Alot of money can be freed up between Trimming the amount of Board Members and Planners.

That doesn't included some headquarters that can be sold.

[Busjack]

I would love Emanuel ego get a reality check.Along with a 205,000 Claypool.

Alot of money can be freed up between Trimming the amount of Board Members and Planners.

That doesn't included some headquarters that can be sold.

I don't know about all of this, but obviously Emanuel wants the right to run amok unsupervised. Again, another instance where Emanuel can't get is way on his own.

[mkohut]

I don't know about all of this, but obviously Emanuel wants the right to run amok unsupervised. Again, another instance where Emanuel can't get is way on his own.

If you look at what Emanuel wanted for Midway Airport.Everyone was watching him .No one in the City Council wanted to be part of that.

[Busjack]

If you look at what Emanuel wanted for Midway Airport.Everyone was watching him .No one in the City Council wanted to be part of that.

I don't think it was the city council watching him, in that the city council is not any check.* It indicates that in that regard, and in appointing Oberman to Metra, that he isn't a complete hypocrite.** However, that doesn't affect his autocratic style that Brizard pointed out, and to which Claypool about admitted. I don't think that the 5 city representatives to the RTA are any different with respect to being under his yoke, but they don't have enough to overcome the other 12 members of the RTA.

_________

*See, for instance, Chicago Political Commentary, where Joe Moore weighed in and proved that he is a complete fool, if not a liar.

**I don't think even he could have said with a straight face that the parking meter deal was bad, and then make a similar deal over Midway.

[mkohut]

Friday meeting got cancel

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130913/news/709129691

[Busjack]

Friday meeting got cancel

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130913/news/709129691

That one sure summed it up, including Jourdan's comments, and Coulson noting that RTA still had a statutory duty. I guess CTA doesn't want any funds in 2014.