Will Springfield Pass Legislation?

[Guest metralink]

What do you all think, will Springfield pass legislation to keep the current service and allow for growth in the suburbs or will there be service cuts this fall?

place your bets now.

[trainman8119]

What do you all think, will Springfield pass legislation to keep the current service and allow for growth in the suburbs or will there be service cuts this fall?

place your bets now.

I am sure they will find some money somehow. Watch your wallet...cause all of us are going

to pay...somehow. What will be interesting is to see if the CTA gets 90% of the pie and Pace

and Metra get next to nothing...which is how this is being reported. And, if the CTA does get the

bailout, will they be whining for money again in January, just as they did the last time they got

bailed out (and cut service too !!!!!). I'd be willing to bet the ranch on that !

[Busjack]

For bets, I agree with trainman. What I fear is that the necessary reforms in SB572 will be decoupled from the taxes, especially now that the Gov has his nose in it. However, given the inability of all of the relevant politcos to deal with any major issue in Springfield (home of Homer Simpson), I agree with the old wrestling slogan "anything can happen and probably will."

[Busjack]

Seems like Hilkevitch is putting his bets in a similar place as trainman.

[michael]

Actually, CTA would be getting 60% of the money, Metra 30%, and Pace 10%, according to the bill. Even though the CTA actually gives 85% of all transit trips in the region.

[Busjack]

Even though the CTA actually gives 85% of all transit trips in the region.

But doesn't provide 85% of the passenger miles nor collect 85% of the fare money. CTA counts unlinked trips, so a person using a Chicago Card and takes advantage of the transfers still pays $2.00 for three trips. Also, the 60/30/10 is apparently for new money, as the old money (there are references to 85% of 80% of the collections, for instance) is allocated using the old formula. Finally, of the proposed .50% increase in the collar counties, the collar county boards keep .25%.

[sw4400]

Either way you slice the money pie, somebody will be cutting service. I guess it's just a matter of who brown noses G-Rod better. There must be a way to bail out these transit agencies without cutting service. What about the cigarette and liquor tax we have in Illinois? Couldn't we channel a portion of that into the CTA's, Metra's, and PACE's funds? I'm a cashier and hear all the time from my customers about the high taxes on cigarettes and liquor.

[Busjack]

What about the cigarette and liquor tax we have in Illinois? Couldn't we channel a portion of that into the CTA's, Metra's, and PACE's funds? I'm a cashier and hear all the time from my customers about the high taxes on cigarettes and liquor.

If you are in Cook County $2 of the cigarette tax (technically a dime a cigarette) goes to the County (i.e. the Stroger machine). Liquor taxes are also higher in Cook County because of Cook County. The County is having its own charade that it won't raise property taxes this year, and will cut 17% across the board, but hasn't eliminated its various spokespersons and other bureaucrats, and now the County Board is indicating that it is willing to raise taxes for the health system. In short, I don't think it will give up a portion of the cigarette and liquor taxes.

There was some talk about giving Chicago a casino and dedicating some of that money to transit, but that seems bottled up in the legislature's paralysis (and Mayor Daley's desire to control it, instead of letting it be owned by a private operator).

A side note about the cigarette tax. Gas stations along the north side of Lake Cook Road have large banners saying "No Cook County Cigarette Tax." At a health club where I used to be a member, someone was stealing wallets from lockers (including mine). A newspaper reported after the second robbery that the person went across the street (i.e. into Lake County) and tried to use the i.d. in one of the wallets to buy cigarettes. He could have gone to the Osco next door to the club (in Cook County), but no. Two weeks later, the health club went out of business. Several ironies in that true story.

Back to the subject at hand, I had mentioned in my letter to the state legislators the problem of "piling on" taxes, with the RTA and the village each adding .25% to the sales tax, the county inevitably raising taxes, etc.