The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a breakdown of the bill that the full Assembly will take action on on Tuesday after it was passed by the Assembly Transportation Committee with bipartisan support. A bit more complex than the proposal put forth in the Governor’s Executive Budget, AB282 would allow the transit authority to levy up to a 0.5% sales tax for transit in Milwaukee County (because of the previous advisory referendum), as well as allowing Kenosha and Racine counties to hold referendums to enact a sales tax to fund their systems. The bill puts in place a requirement to eliminate the property tax funding of transit with the addition of another funding source, reducing the property tax burden on Milwaukee County residents (and down the road Kenosha and Racine residents).

This is a make or break vote for the Milwaukee County Transit System and regional transit. As we’ve stated before, Milwaukee transit should be regionally managed and must be funded with a dedicated funding source. If the bill doesn’t pass, the Milwaukee County Transit System is in for a large number of service cuts and fare increases due to unmet capital needs and Milwaukee County’s ongoing budget woes. The stimulus package spared the system significant pains for one year (fares still went up 25 cents) by granting the money to purchase 90 new buses that will arrive this summer, but that won’t happen again. The region is staring down a cliff, and it would be a real shame to drive off the edge.

The bill has the support of the business community, Governor Jim Doyle, Milwaukee County voters via referendum, and there are adequate provisions for Kenosha and Racine voters to join when they are ready. Please give your State Assembly Representative a call, and let them know you want them to vote for AB282.

This press conference was the unveiling of a plan originally announced on September 8th, 2009 by Governor Doyle at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. This plan is the result of working with legislators following Doyle’s line-item veto of one of the regional transit authorities proposed in the state budget. Doyle was not satisfied with the changes made to regional transit authority proposal in his executive budget, and opted to veto the plan and go the route of introducing separate legislation.

For the sake of hopefully getting a good plan in place, going the “veto and separate legislation” route was a wise move on Doyle’s part. We’ve endorsed the idea before of a regional transit authority funded by a sales tax, and still stand by it as the right thing to do today.  The new plan is not nearly as aggressive as the old one, allowing Racine and Kenosha Counties to phase in over time. It does, however, provide desperately needed funding for Milwaukee County, contain language for an elimination of transit funding from the property tax (creating a tax trade-off instead of a new tax), and allow for development of the KRM Commuter Rail line to go forward which will better connect Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha, as well as Wisconsin and Illinois.

Despite what County Executive Scott Walker tells you, we think this is a good plan to get southeastern Wisconsin transit out of the death spiral it’s in. It’s also worth pointing out the irony of the knee-jerk reaction of some Republicans to dismiss this plan as a new tax, while the businesses and people they claim to represent are on-stage asking for it.

Other Coverage

• BizTimes: Andrew Weiland
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Larry Sandler
• Milwaukee County First: Chris Liebenthal
• The Journal Times: Stephanie Jones
• The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee
• The Daily Reporter

The move, which many see as a slam of Milwaukee by Doyle, arguably shouldn’t be completely viewed that way.  Doyle did propose a three-county sales tax of up to 0.5% for Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha Counties to establish an authority that would operate all of the transit in the area including the KRM.  Doyle’s reasoning for the veto was that the MTA didn’t have a regional approach.

Some have speculated that this was done as part of Doyle’s potential re-election bid.  That it was an attempt to position himself against Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.  I don’t buy that, Doyle had proposed the sales tax in his budget previously, and he wouldn’t have allowed the KRM to continue to move forward because, Walker will surely run all over rural Wisconsin talking about “Doyle’s choo choo,” sales tax or no sales tax.  If Doyle was that desperate to position himself against Walker, he would have vetoed the KRM as well.  I can’t speak for Doyle, but I think this was a clear statement to southeastern Wisconsin to get its act in order and come up with a functional, regional solution.

So what’s next? Something has to happen as the 2010 MCTS funding crisis is quickly approaching.  The word on the street is that Doyle is pushing the legislature for a real regional sales tax for Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee Counties to be introduced as its own legislation.

Now is the time for the Milwaukee caucus to actually deliver for their constituents and get this done.  We’ve watched Lena Taylor and Pedro Colon settle on the Joint Finance Committee for a compromise that gave Racine and Kenosha a free ride as a way to protect Racine Senator John Lehman, but now is the time for real action, real solutions.  Because with the funding crisis looming, and Scott Walker probably willing to cut off his own arm to avoid raising taxes, it’s now or never time.

Unfortunately, what is the Milwaukee caucus doing right now?  Pouting.  Taylor, Colon, and Grigsby led the charge on the Joint Finance Committee to vote down a small spending allotment of $35,000 to further study the KRM.

Even worse, Milwaukee County Board Chair, Lee Holloway has given a series of statements which sound more like a whining teenager, than someone who is determined to leverage his friends in the legislature to go out and get a real funding solution for a real crisis.

Meanwhile, Holloway said he would work against the KRM line by appointing himself and an ally to the transit authority board.

“We are going to vote against the KRM, right down the line,” Holloway said.

“It’s just terrible,” Holloway said. “I’m very critical of (Doyle). I thought he was a friend of Milwaukee County.”

It’s time for our Milwaukee caucus to bring home a real dedicated funding solution for transit in southeastern Wisconsin.

The item of most interest to most Milwaukeeans, outside of income tax levels, is the proposed Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority.  We have created a chart to track the changes that have been made to the proposal, and included a more in-depth explanations into each step below.

What will come out of the conference committee to merge the two budgets, we cannot guess.  In regards to stimulus funds, the amount of money for high-speed rail jumped up to $8 billion, from previous considerations of around $2 billion.  Conference committees are a bit unpredictable sometimes.  It looks like the KRM will get done, one way or another, and that a new sales tax is coming for Milwaukee County.

We’ll update you when we know more, but for now here is a look at how it got to the way it is.

RTA Board, Governor’s Budget Proposal

Governor Doyle stuck his neck out to include the recommendations of SEWISRTA in his original budget proposal.  Those recommendations, as a refresher, were up to a 0.5% sales tax to fund the KRM and transit services in Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee Counties and remove transit from the property tax.  Also included was the ability for municipalities to enact a .15% sales tax for public safety, which was included to gain the support of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.  When Doyle issued his recommendations, he removed Barrett’s 0.15% sales tax.

RTA Board Recommendations
Governor Doyle Budget Recommendation

Joint Finance Committee

The Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature then took up the Governor’s proposed budget, and made their changes.  The Joint Finance Committee RTA changes were made in the middle of the night , with a number of Republicans (who hold the minority in both the Senate and Assembly) heading out to the bars while waiting for Democrats to finish caucasing behind closed doors.

When the meeting finally started, Senator Lena Taylor, Representatives Pedro Colon and Tamara Grigsby had helped turn the southeastern Wisconsin RTA in two RTAs.  One “regional” transit authority for Milwaukee County only, that was funded by a 1% sales tax, and was in charge of supporting transit, parks, EMS, and culture.  The amendment included no clear dividing lines between areas, so it wasn’t clear if Milwaukee County would have parks paved with gold or the best-staffed EMS department in the world.  Of that 1%, 15% would go directly to the City of Milwaukee, with no apparent restrictions on how it could be spent.  This was somewhat similar to the referendum that was narrowly approved by Milwaukee County voters on November 4th.

The second RTA created was the KRM authority, which would operate the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line.  The motion was sponsored by Senator John Lehman, Senator Lena Taylor, Representiave Cory Mason, and Representative Pedro Colon.  Instead of using the RTA board recommended, and Governor proposed .5% sales tax to fund both buses and the commuter rail line, the rail line was to be funded by a $16 rental car tax (per transaction).  A pork stop for Pedro Colon was included to have the train’s first stop out of the Intermodal Station be at East National Avenue (originally called West in the motion that was distributed), a mere mile out of the station.  A stop would make sense in such a location for a light-rail or streetcar vehicle, but not a heavy rail train.  Additionally, the make-up of the board was extremely partisan in nature, with the Milwaukee and Kenosha County Board Chairs appointing their county’s representative as the County Executives in each respective county is a Republican.  Racine County would have had their member appointed by the County Executive.  Bonding authority for the KRM was also reduced to $50 million.  The motion was approved on a party line vote, 12 aye, 4 no.

Representative Robin Vos (R) from Racine County proposed a motion to require a referendum be held in each county to approve the KRM and to exclude western Racine County from the rental car tax.  It was defeated on a party line vote, 4 aye, 12 no.  Vos also moved to amend the KRM authority to have county members of the authority appointed by the county executives.  This was again defeated on a party line vote.

Motion 218 – Southeast RTA
Motion 223 – KRM Authority
Motion 226 – KRM Authority
Motion 228 – KRM Authority

Wisconsin State Assembly

On June 10th, 2009, the Wisconsin State Assembly approved their version of the budget.  They approved a version of transit services more similar to what the Governor and RTA board had recommended than the Joint Finance Committee’s approval.  In brief, the Assembly approved a few key changes to the Joint Finance Committee motions.

• Rename KRM authority SERTA (South Eastern Regional Transit Authority).  Designate it the only entity in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha that can apply as an RTA to the FTA.
• Rename the Milwaukee Regional Transit Authority the Milwaukee Transit Authority (MTA).
• Authorize the Milwaukee County Board to assess a .65¢ sales tax for Milwaukee County. Mandate ½ ¢ has to go to the Milwaukee Transit Authority for transit.
• If the sales tax is adopted, existing funding for transit must be removed from property tax levy.
• Authorize the Milwaukee County Board to approve up to .15% (NOTE: Urban Milwaukee believes this should be cents, not percent, as that would be 9.75 cents as written) of the sales tax go to Milwaukee County municipalities prorated on a formula based on the number of police and fire employees within each municipality.
• Increase the approved car rental tax to $18. Designate that $1 per vehicle from this vehicle rental tax will go to the City of Racine for the Belle Urban System & $1 per vehicle go to the City of Kenosha for the Kenosha Transit Authority to support their local transit systems. Each city will then be required to generate new funds to match new car rental tax revenues. The $1 for the respective cities will not be released by SERTA until the City of Racine and the City of Kenosha have demonstrated an established funding source to produce the matching funds.
• Add a KRM stop in the City of Milwaukee at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Bay Street. (NOTE: This is a long-discussed stop in Representative Jon Richards district)
• Include language specifying that municipalities in Racine and Kenosha Counties, outside of the cities of Racine & Kenosha, shall not have a KRM transit stop in those municipalities until they each provide for a sustainable mechanism to generate new funding to contribute to the Belle Urban System or the Kenosha Transit Authority.
• Restore the language from Governor Doyle’s budget proposal to provide $100 million in bonding
  authority.

The Assembly made adjustments to the KRM after key members met with members of Herb Kohl’s staff and communicated with FTA officials to learn what it would take to get federal approval for the project (federal funds are key to the development of the KRM).

Full Assembly KRM Amendment

Wisconsin State Senate

The Wisconsin State Senate approved a budget closer to that of the Joint Finance Committee than the Assembly on June 18th, 2009.  In brief, their key changes included the following.

• Delete the Milwaukee County Regional Transit Authority (RTA) proposed under the substitute amendment. Remove the reference to the Milwaukee County RTA as an eligible applicant under the southeast Wisconsin transit capital assistance program and, instead, make Milwaukee County an eligible applicant under that program.
• Grant Milwaukee County the ability to enact an additional 1% sales tax for transit, parks, culture, and emergency medical services, and require the property tax levy be reducing by $67 million (NOTE: this would be about half of what the sales tax brings in).
• Require Milwaukee County to distribute the other 15% of the new sales and use tax revenues to the municipalities in Milwaukee County. Require the municipalities to use these funds to support police, fire, and emergency medical services. Specify that the funds would be allocated among the municipalities in Milwaukee County on a per capita basis.
• Rename the KRM Authority, as proposed in the substitute amendment, the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA). Modify the appointments to the SERTA board by specifying that the Kenosha County board chair, rather than the Kenosha County Executive, would appoint the Kenosha County member to the board. Specify that SERTA would be an eligible applicant for the southeastern Wisconsin transit capital assistance program that would be created under the substitute amendment. Require that the KRM commuter rail project include a stop in the City of Milwaukee at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Bay Street.

Full Senate Budget – Page 65 for RTA

The KRM is now an authority onto itself, funded by a $16 rental car tax for Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee counties.  Numerous questions await if the federal government will sign off on such a funding formula.  The makeup of the KRM authority is also different, and will not follow the recommendations of the RTA.  There are no longer representatives from the county seats.

More in-depth details to come tomorrow evening on Urban Milwaukee.

The matter is anything but a done deal, and your support is turning a few votes.

Please make a call Wednesday if you have the chance.  Even if it’s just a one second “vote for the RTA on Thursday”, it’ll make a difference.

Please call, your city needs you.

Senator John Lehman (Racine) especially needs to hear from you!
(608) 266-1832 (866) 615-7510, Fax (608) 267-6793, Sen.Lehman@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707

Representative Cory Mason (Racine)
(608) 266-0634, Rep.Mason@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8953, Madison, 53708

Representative Robin Vos (Racine)
888 534-0063, 608 282-3663 fax, rep.vos@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8953, Madison, 53708

Representative Pedro Colon (Milwaukee)
888 534-0008, 608 282-3608 fax, rep.colon@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8952, Madison, 53708

Representative Tamara Grigsby (Milwaukee)
888 534-0018, 608 282-3618 fax, rep.grigsby@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8952, Madison, 53708

Senator Lena Taylor (Milwaukee)
608 266-5810, 608 267-2353 fax, sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707

Senator Alberta Darling (Milwaukee)
608 266-5830, 608 267-0588 fax, sen.darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707

[Full disclosure, Jeramey is a member of the RTA Steering Committee and a passionate advocate for the efficiencies of mass transit.]

The Assembly and Senate could certainly remove it from the budget they approve, but with Democrats in control of both houses the odds of that are lower than in years past.

If Doyle had not put the recommendations in his budget, the currently advisory RTA would have dissolved, and Milwaukee would have had to wait another two years for the next budget proposal to have a shot at fixing the looming transit funding crisis (which would have been in full swing by then).

So say it’s included in the final budget, what does that mean?  Depending on the exact language, each county will then have the ability to pull the trigger on an RTA sales tax up to 0.5%.  Each county will arrive at that final amount, based on a local committee that determines a budget for the county and includes the localized cost of the KRM commuter rail line.

Today is a good day for mass transit in the Milwaukee region.

Supervisor Jursik explained that despite the task force’s work and positive output the Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee unfortunately rejected the findings.  She expressed her displeasure with the committee’s actions saying “I’ve been very depressed the last few days”.  She then made a strong plea to deny the committee’s rejection so they could then move to take positive action on the task force’s recommendations.  She also referred to a public meeting held on January 13th saying “I was really quite surprised by the consensus of the speakers in terms of regional transit”.

The concerns over governance and control popped up again when Supervisor Coggs stated “my concern is the governance issue wasn’t brought up” and that “I think it needs to be strongly said that we do need representation”.  Supervisor Larson attempted to quell these concerns saying that “we’re trying to issue our opinions on this” and added that “there’s a coalition building and I think Milwaukee County should be part of it”.  He felt Milwaukee County needed to step up as even “the business community is willing to step up”.  He was part of the task force that put forward the recommended response.  Supervisor Thomas added his support to the task force recommendations saying “if we don’t get outside of this room we’ll be talking about this for at least another 30 years”.

The board took an extended lunch to work out an amendment to the task force recommendations to gain majority support from the board.  This amendment added specific governance recommendations, including additional appointees for Milwaukee County and diversity requirements, to the RTA’s configuration.  In the end the board rejected the committee’s action and voted positively in support of the task force’s recommendation with the additional amendment in place.

George Torres was called on to explain his vote against the recommendations of the RTA, and almost immediately went on the defensive for his boss, County Executive Scott Walker.  Torres was called because he is Scott Walker’s representative on the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority.

Torres appeared to have every excuse for why he voted no, most of which appeared to be solved by the inclusion of a local management committee (included in the recommendations that were passed 6-1 by the RTA).  He expressed concerns that the state would dictate what happened with the RTA, that the RTA would be the sole recipient of revenue from the sales tax, and that subcontracting was worded to occur with current transit operators, not potential future operators.  Torres also aired concerns that the appropriation of funds was too focused on the KRM.

Thomas Kujawa asked Torres what the County Executive wanted as a funding source, to which Torres primary response was the diversion of gas tax money.  This follows a typical Scott Walker model of avoiding a tax increase to fund anything, and simply stealing money from another pot.

A refreshing critique came in the meeting when Supervisor Larson took issue with the comments he was hearing from Mr. Torres and the fact that Scott Walker had paid for ads against the successful 1% sales tax referendum.  He also took issue with Torres saying that only 3 out of the 18 communities in Milwaukee County had passed it, noting that Torres failed to mention that those that didn’t failed by the slimmest of margins.

Kujawa at one point exclaimed the “RTA isn’t brain surgery, are we going to solve the problem or not?”  Throughout the meeting he clearly displayed displeasure with the responses Mr. Torres was giving.

It’s worth noting that a handful of supervisors not on the task force were in attendance at the meeting, including Supervisors Weishan, Lipscomb, and Borkowski.

Supervisor Jursik ran through a list of individuals that will be invited to the next task force meeting.  They include the following:

• Chairman Holloway
• Chairman Mayo
• Julia Taylor
• Kerry Thomas
• A member of the Cudahy Chamber of Commerce
• Alderman Witkowski
• Ken Yunker
• Samual Jenson (Transit Riders union)
• Matt Nelson (Transit Riders union)
• Richard Riley (ATU)
• Supervisor Broderick
• Pete Bietzel/Tim Sheehy
• Rob Henken
• Sharon Robinson
• Bill Sell
• Mayors McCue, Zepeke, Ricahrds, Bolender

Towards the end of the meeting Supervisor Jursik explained that the goal of the task force would be to develop a consensus statement to take back to the Transportation Committee and ultimately the County Board.  It will be interesting to see what the task force comes up with.  I would expect it to be pro-RTA with some potentially legitimate concerns included because of the involvement of both Supervisor Larson and Supervisor Jursik, who both showed a genuine interest in progress at the last Transportation Commitee meeting.

Does this mean that the KRM line has no chance of going forward?  Absolutely not.  We still think Governor Doyle should include the ability for the RTA to collect up to a .5% sales tax in his budget proposal, due out sometime in mid-to-late January.  The lack of an American manufacturer of DMU’s that meet FRA’s standards is a void that will likely be filled by the market, especially as more and more metro areas aim to start new commuter rail programs.

To understand the importance of Colorado Railcar, it’s important to look at the laws and options surrounding transit systems.  Fortunately Fred Hanson, General Manager of Tri-Met in Oregon, wrote a great article breaking down why DMU’s from Colorado Railcar are important to new transportation systems.

Fact No. 1: In purchasing the railcars for WES, TriMet had to comply with the federal Buy America law. Only one American firm — Colorado Railcar Manufacturing — manufactures the vehicles we needed.

Fact No. 2: The Diesel Multiple Unit trains selected for WES are the only ones that meet federal safety standards allowing commuter trains to operate with active freight trains. Portland & Western Railroad controls the tracks upon which the WES trains will operate, and the company required that freight trains continue to operate on the tracks along with commuter trains. The DMU trains were also selected for this corridor because they provide for ease of operation (an operator cab at both ends), their size fits the Beaverton Transit Center, and TriMet can add future service outside the current “rush-hour only” schedule and safely share the tracks with freight trains.

The Buy American law appears not to be the only thing keeping foreign DMU train sets off American tracks.  They apparently do not comply with FRA standards that require the trains won’t crumple in a high-speed collisions.

What’s the solution?

I think it’s time for the state of Wisconsin and the City of Milwaukee to look at supporting Super Steel, our local railcar manufacturer (for clients such as Metra) to become a manufacturer of DMU trainsets.  Not only may it position Milwaukee to be a leader in the industry, but it will put more people to work in Milwaukee.

Speaking in support of laying the resolution over, Supervisor Larson pointed to Milwaukie, Oregon, a town of about 20,000 residents, as an example of city that has been able to move forward with new rail service while Milwaukee, Wisconsin hasn’t been able to move forward because of a lack of action.  He also argued that with the pending federal stimulus package that if Milwaukee County doesn’t find a local funding source it will lose out on millions in federal dollars.

Looking beyond the concerns raised by other board members Supervisor Jursik moved to lay the resolution over.  She argued that the resolution in its current form took such a negative tone and that by laying the resolution over the board could put together a resolution stating Milwaukee County’s position in better terms.  The resolution was laid over on a vote of 7 to 12.

Supervisor Jursik expressed her support for the KRM line and the RTA by stating “the south shore route is extremely important to my community.”  She also reiterated the importance of returning with a positive response asking if the committee would “reconsider the rather harsh tone that was taken towards the RTA.”

Speaking in opposition Supervisor Clark at times tried to say she wasn’t against the RTA or the KRM but at other time said “I definitely don’t support the KRM in its current configuration” and added later that “I still don’t support us paying into the RTA.”  She also claimed that the proposed KRM line “doesn’t help the citizens of  Milwaukee very much,” because the KRM line didn’t go beyond the Intermodal Station.  Finally she had issues regarding the governance structure of the RTA, comparing it to SEWRPC.

Once again Supervisor Larson appeared to be transit and regionalism’s strongest champion on the committee.  He pointed out that if the county board doesn’t act now that Milwaukee County could lose out on million of dollars of federal funding in the upcoming stimulus package.  He also attempted to point out the overarching issue facing mass transit in the region when he said that “the idea of working together is somewhat foreign in this region.”  Possibly the most telling moment was when he explained that “Milwaukie is getting rail, unfortunately it is Milwaukie, Oregon,” he added that “we’re paying for rail, we’re just not getting any of it.”  Supervisor Larson wrapped up his strong support for regionalism and mass transit message saying “I’m for an RTA.”

Supervisor Weishan took issue with the media’s characterization of the committee’s recent action as an anti-regionalist and as stopping efforts to improve mass transit in Milwaukee.  He made is beliefs clear stating that “our vote did not stop anything.”  He also at times talked down the recent referendum’s approval, in regards to it be an indicator that the citizen’s of Milwaukee County support expanding mass transit saying “lets not read to much on the 1% sales tax.”  He argued that the citizens of Milwaukee County wouldn’t accept an RTA because it is made up of an unelected board and would have taxing authority.  Despite effectively voting in opposition to a proposed regional transit solution, all be it with some flaws, he attempted to explain that “this doesn’t mean we’re against regionalism.”

Supervisor Mayo complained that “we want to be part of the solution, not told what to do” and added various comments to the same effect indicating he felt the County Board deserved more power and control.  He made mention of his working on regional transit solutions going back to 1994 but failed to note those efforts have resulted in no progress in bringing rail service to Southeast Wisconsin.

In the end the committee’s vote to reconsider their previous measure regarding the RTA failed on a vote 2 to 5 with Supervisor’s Larson and Jursik supporting the measure.