Urban rail could cost homeowners $200 per year

[Javaman]

http://austin.twcnews.com/content/news/298933/urban-rail-could-cost-homeowners--200-per-year

Urban rail planners are gearing up to promote a program that could cost Austin taxpayers as much as $500 million.

Final recommendations come Friday, but Tuesday, the Austin City Council learned how much they'd need to raise the tax rate to pay for urban rail.

"For every one penny that we raise the tax rate, it generates about $115 million over that 20-year debt service period," Austin City Council Member and mayoral candidate Mike Martinez said.

For the owner of a $200,000 home, that means another $84 a year in taxes. But urban rail will cost much more than $115 million, though the final amount depends on whether it goes under or over Lady Bird Lake.

more at link...

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another scam by our city council

first it was the UT med ctr. They pass this BS bond for the homeowners to pay for it via higher property taxes, but then, 2 months later UT "somehow" finds 400+ million in tax budget savings. Funny how that works.

now they want to put us on the hook again for this over priced boondoggle of making Austin "appear" green.

I have written to our glorious mayor laughingwell (sic) and his room full of crooked dopes in regards to a cost saving measure regarding a better way to serve Austin instead of this BS light rail (but heavy on the pocket). It would be in the way of articulate electrified buses much as they have in San Francisco. But alas, I never get a reply.

like everything in Texas, Austin is certainly not excluded, it's about greed and opportunism. Laughingwell and his real estate buddies have done real well since he's been in office.


as I like to joke about our mayor: laughingwell all the way to the bank.

on edit: I could also go into how our infamous transportation dept has basically screwed over the poor in this city time and time again with their ham handed handling of the buses and the ticket fares.

this whole mess just boils my blood.

[hobbit709]

1. And that rail plan does nothing for south and east Austin.

Capital Metro sucks big time.

[kentauros]

2. And that sounds like Houston Metro!

Do any of the metro authorities in the state know how to do anything logical?

Houston did finally extend the lightrail to the north side of town, but they still don't have anything to the west side, despite that perfectly usable derelict railroad r.o.w. paralleling Westpark.