Would voters OK sales tax hike?

Broward County wants to raise $16 billion for transit projects

Broward County commissioners are still trying to decide if they’ll ask county voters to increase the sales tax to raise almost $16 billion for road and transportation projects.

It’s a lot of money the county would use to pay to fix roads, improve bus service and add lightrail streetcar routes to heavily congested roads with the goal of providing better commutes for residents.

Voters said yes in 2016 to a smaller half-penny increase, but that never took effect because it was tied to a companion half-penny sales tax increase for city infrastructure projects that voters rejected.

County commissioners said Monday they’re leaning toward another vote this year; they’re just not certain the timing is right.

Will the people who turn out be more typical of non-presidential election year voters who tend to be more conservative and less likely to go along with a tax increase? Or is it shaping up to be a “wave” election of progressive voters dissatisfied with President Donald Trump who could be more receptive to the county’s pitch?

Voters could be wading through a large number of referendums from the county and state, raising concerns the sales tax question could be ignored.

Hanging in the balance are 30 years’ worth of road and transportation projects. They include more than 27 miles of light rail, hundreds of new buses, more rapid and express bus routes, community bus programs for every city and a more technologically advanced road system.

“I think if we’re going to do it, we put it on and we just don’t overthink this to death,” Commissioner Michael Udine said.

Udine said the best selling point could be the plan to add 75 miles of fiber optic cables along roadways that currently don’t have them, greatly enhancing the county’s ability to adapt signal timing to traffic demands. The fiber optics would also provide the backbone for new technologies and cellphone apps that drivers increasingly rely on to find the quickest routes to their destinations, he said.

“That would be the first priority I would get out to people,” Udine said during the first day of a twoday commission retreat at Tree Tops Park in Davie. “There’s so much of the county that’s missing that.”

Commissioner Mark Bogen said he’s concerned the “most important tab is missing” from the county’s presentation: How to market the proposed increase.

“If we can’t sell it, it’s a waste,” Bogen said. “The last time, we failed in marketing.”

County officials estimate that increasing the county sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent — an extra penny for each dollar consumers spend — would raise $15.7 billion over 30 years. That’s about $2 billion more than had been estimated in November.

The total plan, when federal, state and other funding is included, would reach $25 billion over 30 years, officials estimate.

Miami-Dade currently spends about three times as much a year on transportation as Broward County, $1.46 billion to Broward’s $515 million, county officials said.

The proposed plan includes up to 586 city transportation projects that were included in the 2016 plan.

It also would provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in “seed money” for potential pilot projects involving autonomous vehicles or other new transportation technologies.

A looming concern for commissioners is the fate of Fort Lauderdale’s Wave streetcar project, which has become increasingly controversial over its high cost. All of Fort Lauderdale’s commission and mayoral candidates in Tuesday’s election are opposed to the project and may try to kill it. County commissioners fear any litigation or further controversy could lead Wave critics to organize against a sales tax increase, even though the Wave is funded separately.

The light rail the county is planning for the future would use the same vehicles as the Wave, but they would travel at greater speeds in lanes by themselves or where they have priority during rush hour.

Commissioner Steve Geller, not convinced that light rail will do a better job than express buses at moving commuters, said he wants to make sure the county uses the right technology. The cheaper cost of buses could allow the county to purchase more of them and have them run more frequently, which would help attract passengers, he said.