Editorial: Vote no on proposed tax

A proposal to tax Fort Collins shoppers 36 cents on every $100 purchase to fund transportation projects should be rejected by voters April 6.

The tax would raise more than $92 million over 10 1/2 years, with the lion’s share of the proceeds – $73 million – going to fund operations at Transfort, the city’s municipal bus system. The rest would go toward an improved traffic-control system ($4.4 million) and for operations of the city’s transportation system ($13.7 million).

The goals of this proposed tax remain noble; it’s critical for Fort Collins quality of life to ease traffic congestion, improve the timing of traffic lights and promote alternative transportation.

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This ballot measure, however, is simply too expensive. It dwarfs the $4.8 million that the city currently spends on Transfort annually, and the benefits would be too little – a shift of only 1.6 percent to 2.5 percent from automobiles to alternative transportation, vs. a goal of a 5 percent shift. Experts estimate that it would take a total of $145 million to accomplish the 5 percent shift over 20 years.

The city estimates that it would require 10 million bus rides per year to accomplish that shift. This initial investment would take ridership only to 3 million, with the addition of seven bus routes and 33 buses.

Currently, Colorado State University students and youth aged 17 and under account for 70 percent of Transfort’s ridership, with the general public accounting for the remaining 30 percent. To be truly accepted as a mode of transportation by the majority of the business community, greater emphasis should be placed on regional transit, between Fort Collins and Greeley, for example.

A link with the Regional Transportation District that serves the Denver area would be widely hailed by the region’s business community.

This tax, however, with its elements all bundled together, costs far too much.