The Solution – Update

Recently, we advocated for the formation of a regional transit authority that has a dedicated funding source as a solution to the transit issues facing the Milwaukee region. Following that editorial we wrote an open letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett encouraging him to vote on the morning of November 10th for the sales tax proposal.

On Monday morning, six of the seven appointed officials on the South Eastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority board voted for just what we recommended, a dedicated funding source in the form of a sales tax to manage Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee’s transit systems of up to .5% depending on the county. The SEWISRTA is currently only advisory and subject to expire soon. They were tasked with reporting back to the Governor by November 15th, 2008 and were required to have a super majority vote for their recommendations, so the sales tax proposal vote on November 10th was crucial.

Because of the way sales tax can be implemented in Wisconsin, the fight for great mass transit must now be taken to the state level. The Governor will now hopefully include the RTA’s recommendations in his budget proposal and will lobby for it along with members of the legislature.

There will certainly be opportunities for action by the public (in the form of calling, emailing, or talking directly to your legislators) regarding the SEWISRTA’s recommendations and the proposed state budget.

Because we think this issue is critical to the future of the city of Milwaukee and the region we have created a page to track this issue. Please use it as a reference point on the issue, and don’t hesitate to contact us if we left anything off of it.

SEWISRTA Tracking Page