The results of Bend 2030’s April Transportation Forum are in. The first revelation is unsurprising: People want more from their transportation systems and infrastructure. But the follow-up is less anticipated: They are willing to pay for it.
When presented with four different entities—the community at large, local governments, transit riders, and private industry—the 175 attendees showed a clear preference for having the community at large carry the burden of funding public transit. When the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council surveyed the public in 2013, support for a transit property tax was in the low 40 percent.
Forum attendees were most supportive of a gas tax, a tourism-related tax such as on food and beverage, and a studded tire fee to generate funding. A property tax was the fourth most-suggested option, but with considerably less support that the first three ideas.
This article appears in May 6-13, 2015.
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Consider where much of the money from the city’s hotel tax goes– Visit Bend. Why not take half of the funds going to Visit Bend and apply them to transit? I believe that’s a much better use of funds that would otherwise be spent on advertising for tourism. Folks around the country know what and where Bend is. Let’s put money where it matters.