03-23-2017, 01:26 PM
(03-23-2017, 12:44 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(03-23-2017, 12:38 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Again, this only works if there are conditions attached. If, today, riders pay 50% of GRT costs and regional tax revenues pay 50%, you could have the region decide that now 50% of GRT costs will be riders, 20% will be federal funds, and 30% will be regional tax revenues, meaning that 20% goes back to the general revenues.
That part is controlled by each city or region, nothing the federal government can dictate. The city/region can also change the 50% target to 40% or 60%, independent of the federal government. So the local funding level is really separate from the federal subsidy, and it really doesn't make the federal subsidy model "work" or "not work".
But it could control it by providing a direct tax subsidy for buying transit passes, like was already happening. Changing it to be a refundable subsidy, that applied to tickets as well, for example would have made it have broader applications. In that case, the region/city cannot take that income and apply to to the general revenues.