Pinellas County mulls new transportation funding

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The County is facing a major funding deficit for transportation, transit.

Pinellas County residents could know as soon as January whether or not another transit sales tax referendum might land on the ballot.

The Pinellas County Commission is facing a major funding deficit for transportation and transit projects countywide if nothing is done.

A sales tax increase isn’t the only option on the table.

“We haven’t taken a position on that yet on the County Commission,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Janet LongBut it remains in question.

The county is facing a more than $130 million backlog of transit enhancements it can’t currently afford and a $392 million in unfunded needs for overall transportation.

That’s not counting the $31.5 million such transit and transportation enhancements would cost annually to operate and maintain. 

The county commission is ramping up discussions about how best to fund transportation needs in the county as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is facing a major budget challenge in the coming years. 

The PSTA Board of Directors earlier this year decided to maintain current levels of service despite a looming budget deficit, but agreed to identify a stop gap funding mechanism to stay afloat and avoid draining the agency’s reserves. 

The board voted 13-0 in April to use reserves to cover a $1.7 million deficit until they could identify $5 million in additional revenue to avert service cuts. That move averted sweeping service cuts in the Seminole and north Pinellas areas, but the problem remains unsolved.

The transit problem runs deep. PSTA is one of the lowest funded transit agencies of its size nationwide. Its annual budget is about $80 million. Other agencies like PSTA run on about $120 million, according to Long. 

“So we really struggle to provide the best service that we can within the confines of what we can afford,” Long said.

During a budget discussion last month, Pinellas County Commissioners mulled the problem and potential solutions. 

The county’s needs, among other things, include:

— $35 million for advanced traffic management systems along 71 miles of roads.

— $49 million for various intersection improvements.

— $50 million for various safety initiatives. 

— $40 million for new street lighting.

— $73 million for sidewalk continuity.

— Nearly $6 million for eight new buses to serve the U.S. 19 south corridor to Gandy Boulevard and about the same for another eight buses to serve Roosevelt and East Bay Boulevard corridor serving downtown Clearwater, Largo and west St. Pete.

— Nearly $40 million for feeder transit routes to support those priority corridors.

All of those enhancements come with a $15 million a year annual operating and maintenance cost.

But the county isn’t just looking at transit and transportation in a bubble. They’re also talking about affordable housing and economic development. It’s what Long describes as the county’s “three-legged stool.”

“You can’t address one of those things without providing for the other two,” Long said. 

Affordable housing has to be served by transit. But transit needs affordable housing to have sustainable ridership. And economic development is a part of providing affordable housing and the type of development that provides revenue to pay for both. 

The county is loosely looking at a possible transportation referendum that would raise sales tax by either a half or quarter percent. A half-cent sales tax would raise about $1 billion over ten years.

But that’s a hard conversation to have. Voters in 2014 overwhelmingly rejected a 1 percent sales tax referendum that would have funded bus service enhancements as well as a light rail corridor connecting downtown Clearwater, mid-Pinellas and downtown St. Pete.

The county hasn’t identified any potential details of a hypothetical transit referendum reboot, but its July budget discussion suggests such a conversation might include a whole lot more than just transit. 

And it doesn’t only consider raising sales tax. A budget presentation also shows recommendations for potentially raising gas taxes 5 cents. However, Long said she’s not sure that’s the best idea.

“I struggle with that because I’m savvy enough to know it’s really just a bandaid and not sustainable,” Long said. “Cars are getting more fuel efficient and they’re not as dependent on gas.”

The county also has on the table increased property tax, but that would do little for transit because PSTA is already collecting the maximum amount of property taxes it’s allowed. 

In the meantime, county officials are working with PSTA and the county’s metropolitan planning organization, Forward Pinellas, to speak with community leaders and stakeholders to identify a path forward. 

The county expects to have a loose plan assembled by January. 

Janelle Irwin Taylor

Janelle Irwin Taylor has been a professional journalist covering local news and politics in Tampa Bay since 2003. Most recently, Janelle reported for the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She formerly served as senior reporter for WMNF News. Janelle has a lust for politics and policy. When she’s not bringing you the day’s news, you might find Janelle enjoying nature with her husband, children and two dogs. You can reach Janelle at [email protected].


3 comments

  • Dan

    August 5, 2019 at 11:34 am

    When will PSTA & it’s board reduce administrative staff and the size of buses to match actual ridership in accordance with their many studies. They continue to bleed the public for non-services, empty buses roaming the county and lack of leadership. If they were not publicly funded, the irresponsible management would have been released and the size of the organization would be reduced to the market it has and plan on normal contractions that have been witnessed In Pinellas County as well as nation wide. Down Size and stop using the excuse to launder the public funds for your personal gains.

  • Bob Schultz

    August 5, 2019 at 3:52 pm

    Dan has said what needs to be said. If the fools running PSTA put any kind of tax increase on the ballot in 2020, they will live to regret it. Mostly empty buses roaming around spewing out fumes, tying up traffic on major throughfares does not sit well with the traveling/voting public. We need a system that runs north/south; east/west and not winding their way thru neighborhoods to pick up one or two passengers going to the mall.

    • Tom Rask

      August 6, 2019 at 2:29 am

      Brad Miller, the PSTA CEO, has publicly stated that PSTA’s original purpose was to transport people to and from malls, and that this model no longer works.

      PSTA’s ridership is 13% lower than it was a decade ago, and it keeps dropping, see article below. Wait until Uber Pool and Lyft Rideshare start up, then it will REALLY drop. People just don’t want what PSTA offers.

      https://tampabayguardian.com/2018/10/24/psta-ridership-13-lower-than-a-decade-ago/

Comments are closed.


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