Apparently oblivious to the elongated Great Recession we remain mired in, here comes C-Tran wanting more of our dwindling money. Proposition 1, appearing on our ballots in the November general election, will raise sales taxes to maintain current bus service, they claim. As I previously showed here, they aren’t exactly struggling to make ends meet, like many middle class taxpayers in Clark County are currently.
With a 24% increase in families earning less than $35K a year and the poverty rate in Clark County increasing to 11.8% in 2009 (the latest year reported), people in Clark County continue to struggle with lower wages and unemployment. We can ill afford more taxes, especially with so many tax and fee proposals staring us in the face.
I have long advocated a vote of NO on any measure concerning C-Tran to send a message to our elected officials, aka ‘ruling class,’ and maintain that position. But, along with sending them a message over lying to us and denying us a county-wide vote on light rail maintenance and operations, a look at how inefficiently C-Tran continues to be operated also calls for a NO vote for a few additional reasons.
Seeing public opinion unfavorable on the prospect of paying more taxes, Keep Clark County Moving PAC has launched a “Preserve Our Buses” webpage, complete with the usual dire circumstances that will befall the low income, senior citizens and the disabled that rely on bus service. (PDC Report on Keep Clark County Moving PAC contributors)
Of note in this warning of dire circumstances befalling us of we don’t dig deep and pony up more tax dollars, “Budgeted wage freeze for non-represented management and represented maintenance employees for 2010 and budgeted wage freeze for all employees through 2012. Union employees continue to receive steps.”
Part of what the tax increase goes for is to pay union employees while you go without. Where is the “shared sacrifice” we keep hearing we need to make?
Another point is how C-Tran has made bad spending decisions with our hard earned dollars they take from us. As seen in the following graph, supplied by C-Tran, ridership remains below what it was back in 1999.
Even with a decreased ridership, in 2008 as our economy continued the rapid downturn, C-Tran announced adding 12 Hybrid buses at a cost of $650,000 apiece (actually closer to $1 Million) instead of $450,000 for diesel buses. Those 12 hybrids each has a large battery that needs to be replaced every 6 years at a price of $34,000, plus labor and can only carry 35 passengers, instead of the 45 of other buses. The buses are rated at getting 1.6 mpg more than the diesel buses do.
Also confirmed to me by a retired Accounting Specialist at C-Tran from 1992-2008, “other costs associated with them, not only the sales tax, but while the buses are in production one of C-tran top training Mechanics has to be there and supervise the production…and all the federal requirements which include an inspection to certify that all parts are American made…plus one top mechanic has to go back to where they are produced to learn the new operations procedures, mechanical abilities, and PMS (planned maintenance service)….and all the legal ads that is federal required for federal money.”
This as our economy was rapidly heading south and obviously not about saving any money for the taxpayers in fuel costs or more efficient routes. From a July 2008 article appearing the Columbian, the effort seemed more about creating a Green Image, touting the buses as “fuel-saving” over a mere 1.6 mile per gallon increase in mileage, while being capable of carrying less passengers.
An earlier effort at “greening” the fleet back-fired as the use of bio-diesel during the winter caused several engine problems.
Click on photo to enlarge, 1 passenger. Taken Aug 23, 2011 7:30 PM
And John Q. Struggling Taxpayer is expected to just keep feeding the C-Tran kitty, even though as I showed earlier, empty buses drive past my home every single day, all day long. I’m sure the route by my home isn’t the only one seeing empty buses.
A December 2008 article, Plans to shape county’s transit future gain approval shows C-Tran has been salivating to get a hold of more of our money for some time for yet another expensive bus plan allegedly to lessen congestion, but in actuality will cause more of it. The Fourth Plain Boulevard “Bus Rapid Transit” system.
We’ll be asked to dig down and pony up more of our hard earned wages later for that, even though more cost effective measures could be implemented.
Expensive buses that offer little in return, carry less passengers, save very little fuel, a proposed BRT on Fourth Plain that might improve their “on-time” schedules by a mere 50 seconds or so, not to mention the pending Billions of tax dollars scheduled to go into CRC, Light Rail, Millions for a new stadium to house a Class A ball team, union contract negotiations ongoing, possible addition of a $20 fee to license our cars, almost $20 Million for the purchase of the building built by the Columbian that they were not able to afford, Millions more going to a waterfront project, while we are closing fire stations, laying off city employees and granting Millionaire developers Million Dollar tax abatements to build more high density population centers along the proposed light rail line, as was seen in both East Germany and the former Soviet Union, and you and I are expected to just cough up the money.
It is very apparent that we are just feeding a monster with an insatiable appetite.
Heather Stuart, treasurer of Keep Clark County Moving and wife of County Commissioner Steve Stuart who sits on the C-Tran Board says we that encourage a NO vote on Proposition 1 to “send a message” are using a “misguided approach” in making this a “political statement.”
Given the insatiable appetite of the C-Tran monster, the inefficient operating of C-Tran, the squandering our precious tax dollars and the fact that we have been continually lied to and manipulated by elected officials concerning C-Tran projects, the CRC and light rail, combined with the ever worsening economic conditions seen, I see it a not only a “misguided approach” to vote yes on Proposition 1, but downright foolhardy.
I hope you will join me in voting NO on Proposition 1 in the upcoming November election.
