House committee introduces public transit bill

POSTED: 10:50 MDT Tuesday, March 25, 2008

by Eddie Kovsky

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Tags - Idaho Legislature, taxes, Valley Regional Transit

Public transit legislation will get a hearing before the end of the Legislative session.

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted this morning to introduce a bill that will give cities and counties the authority, with voter approval, to level a local option tax to provide local services.

The bill was proposed by Roy Eiguren, a lobbyist for Valley Regional Transit. The bill was written to be compatible with a constitutional amendment currently before the Senate, and is very different from the bill transit supporters, including Valley Regional Transit, hoped to introduce this year.

Under the new bill, only cities or counties would be able to ask voters to accept a local option tax, and only with two-thirds approval during a November election.

Regional authorities, like Valley Regional Transit, would not be able to ask for a local option tax or use the funds directly. Instead, they would have to enter a cooperative agreement with the cities or counties to use the funds to pay for regional services.

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