Growls

On Friday, Scott McCaffrey of the Arlington Sun Gazette posted an online story saying that “federal funding increasingly appears (the) key to (a) Columbia Pike streetcar plan.” McCaffrey went on to write:

“While county government officials plan to use plenty of local revenue to fund their estimated $138 million share of a trolley line, the current funding package also relies on $50 million in federal transit funds to spur the proposal from concept to reality.

“Whether those funds are forthcoming remains to be seen, with a determination expected by 2011. Local officials are hoping that the Obama administration will be more amenable to rail projects than was the Bush administration, which shunted them to the side in favor of high-frequency bus alternatives in urban areas.”

The cost to Arlington County taxpayers? McCaffrey writes:

“The current price tag for the project is an estimated $160 million. Because most of the line would be in Arlington, the county would be required to shoulder the lion’s share of the tab.

“The direct cost to Arlington taxpayers - perhaps $60 million or more - likely would be funded through revenue bonds, paid off in coming years using funds generated by a tax surcharge on commercial property.

[ . . . . ]

“Wayne Kubicki, one of the most respected fiscal watchdogs in the county, voiced a more specific concern: What would happen if the General Assembly eliminated the ability of Northern Virginia jurisdictions to collect the real estate surtax on commercial property?

“If the tax was revoked, debt service [for the project] would have to come out of the general fund, no?” he asked. “But then, how do you do that, since there was no bond referendum?”

“County officials say there is plenty of time to work through all the concerns that have been raised.”

“(P)lenty of time to work through all the concerns.” Oh where oh where have I heard that before? And Arlogance? It's "extravagant solutions in search of problems to solve," according to ACTA's president, Tim Wise