City Commission OKs project list News Sports Entertainment Lifestyle Opinion USA TODAY Obituaries eNewspaper Legals Subscribe City Commission OKs project list City has 54 projects for the 1-cent county surtax for transportation if it passes. Chad Smith Staff writer View Comments View Comments If Alachua County voters approve a 1-cent sales surtax to fund transportation projects in November, the city of Gainesville now has an idea what it will do with it. In a 5-0 vote, with two commissioners absent, the City Commission approved a list of 54 projects worth $528 million that includes resurfacing roadways and implementing three bus rapid transit lines. With the vote, the commission also advocated that the County Commission bump the 10-year duration of the proposed surtax to 15 years in order to fund more long-term projects. How much the city would get is still to be determined and could be a point of contention with the county. Mayor Craig Lowe said a number of times during Monday’s special meeting that he needed to feel like Gainesville residents were getting their “fair share” of the money in order to support the initiative, which the county is considering putting before voters on the Nov. 6 ballot. The initiative would mean the state sales tax of 6 percent would jump to 7 percent in Alachua County. The county is proposing to split the money evenly between it and the cities — with 50 percent going toward county road improvements and 50 percent to be split by the nine municipalities in the county. Whether the split between Gainesville and the other significantly smaller cities and towns is based on population, miles of roadway or a combination would determine how much each city gets. For instance, a formula based on population would mean Gainesville would get 83.9 percent of the cities’ money, while a calculation based on population and mileage, which the county is promoting, would mean Gainesville would get 72.9 percent. Based on the county’s preferred methodology, the county would get $15 million of the estimated $30 million in annual revenue, while Gainesville would get $10.9 million. The next-largest recipient, the city of Alachua, would get $1.1 million. While the county would be spending some of its money on its roadways within the Gainesville city limits, Lowe and other commissioners said they didn’t believe the county’s formula puts enough emphasis on roadways that have the most traffic volume. If more emphasis was on volume, that would benefit Gainesville, the hub of activity in the county. “We hear a lot about congestion in this community, but this methodology seems to not place a very high priority on congestion,” Lowe said. The mayor said he would call another special meeting in the coming weeks for commissioners to hash out their own preferred system of allocating the funding. There were also questions about some of the projects on the list. While Commissioner Scherwin Henry ultimately voted to approve the list, he said making bus rapid transit (BRT), a system of getting riders to opposite corners of town more quickly with different loading methods and fewer stops, a large part of the city’s transportation efforts “would not be a very wise thing to do.” “There are many other pressing needs in conjunction with bus rapid transit,” Henry said, adding that east Gainesville still needed more traditional bus service. “I don’t think it should dominate the city’s initiative.” Of the $294.4 million of transit needs that city staff identified, $106.3 million would go to BRT projects. About $47 million would go toward enhancing the traditional bus system. Commissioner Todd Chase, who along with Jeanna Mastrodicasa missed the vote, said he would have voted against the motion had he been at City Hall. Chase left during the discussion to attend an “important business meeting” but returned a few minutes after the commission meeting adjourned. He said he wouldn’t have supported the motion because he doesn’t think any of the funding should go toward BRT because it is still in the feasibility stage, meaning staff is gathering data about if and how it could be implemented. “If BRT is on this, I’m going to fight this with everything I’ve got,” he said. “You can’t commit funding while you’re understanding if it’s even feasible.” During the meeting, Chase also advocated for setting the tax at five years to make it more palatable for voters. “I think 15 years is also a huge mistake,” he said. Lowe said the BRT analysis Chase described was more of a procedural step before the system is implemented, adding that he took an opposite view of its need for surtax funding. “I would have a hard time supporting an initiative that did not have bus rapid transit,” he said. Contact Chad Smith at 338-3104 or chad.smith@gvillesun.com. View Comments View Comments Careers Staff Directory Accessibility Site Map Legals Public notice certification Our Ethical Principles Terms of Service Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info / Cookie Policy Contact Us Support Local Business Advertise Your Business Advertising Terms and Conditions Buy and Sell Licensing & Reprints Help Center Subscriber Guide My Account Give Feedback Subscribe Today Newsletters Facebook Twitter eNewspaper Archives Instagram Jobs Cars Homes Classifieds Reviewed.com 10Best Reach Local USA TODAY Sports+ © 2022 www.gainesville.com. 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