Looks like Lakeville is at it again, whining about the fact that they are being pressured by politicians that represent municipalities already in the transit taxing district but they just can’t understand how a $40 increase in property tax will benefit them.
I have talked about the rising taxes in Dakota County due to transit and have directly mentioned that those that aren’t a part of the taxing district should not have free access to the same services available to those of us that are paying. I have been following several articles about this topic recently and there are some opposing viewpoints mostly because of an amended bill introduced by Rep. Shelley Madore, DFL-Apple Valley which Lakeville’s politicians feel was introduced improperly.
I personally feel that their arrogance and blatant refusal to give a shit that their residents are using transit facilities paid for by others, in very large numbers, and the give us what we want or fuck off and die, rhetoric is abhorrent. Thankfully, it appears that the Met Council isn’t going to put up with that sort of bullying and they said that unless Lakeville begins to pay up, new transit stations will not go into Lakeville along the 35W corridor.
While I admit what Madore did is a shit move, I believe it pales in comparison to the childish politics that is pouring out of Lakeville. I say pony up the dough or stop whining that you aren’t being treated fairly while you step all over everyone else and allow your citizenry to take advantage of transit options that you haven’t helped fund.
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March 31st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
This kinda BS is what subsidies create. I was going to ask why the AV bus station is so far south in the city. But people will drive a long way to get to one, so that doesn’t really matter. If Lakeville pays, what about further south. I bet people drive from Faribault to the Burnsville station off 13.
In the end, someone is paying for someone else. Buses could easily be self-supported if rates were set appropriately.
Maybe our south metro lawmakers should be spending their time trying to create an attractive business climate so that we don’t have to cross the river. Instead of figuring out how to take money from one person and give to someone else.
March 31st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
JP,
They have other transit stations in Apple Valley including the completely empty and nearly unsupported one over by Apple Valley Target South and also the Palomino Park-n-Ride near Cedar and 35E.
To your point about those coming as far south as Faribault, I have spoken with someone that comes from Northfield and parks at the AV Transit Center and while that does annoy me a bit as a taxpayer, it’s not nearly as bad as the 200+ known people from Lakeville using the transit station.
We’ll never win :(
April 6th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
This is one of those issues where I see both sides, but your last paragraph sums everything up fairly well. What Madore did is a shit move. BS politics crap and counter productive to finding a reasonable solution that works for everyone. Having said that, I’m sure the whopping 200+ people in Lakeville that use the transit center would have no problem chipping in for the transit center. It’s the 50,000 people in Lakeville that will never ride a bus or train again in their life that probably don’t want to pay for it.
April 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
It’s the 50,000 people in Lakeville that will never ride a bus or train again in their life that probably don’t want to pay for it.
Well, it’s the same for any of those already in the taxing district I guess. It’s not like the majority of Apple Valley residents are utilizing the transit options available either :)
Oh well, nothing we can do about it but complain ;)
April 16th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Looks like the pansies backed down and have removed the language which would have forced Lakeville and Farmington into the transit taxation district. You can read more about it here.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I will be completely saddened if Lakeville does join the taxing district.
If only 200 out of 30,000 Lakeville residents utilize the Apple Valley Transit station, the Met Coucil can incorporate a pay as you go system. Those Lakeville residents can pay the actual cost of the ride - not the taxpayer subsidized cost.
At least then, I won’t have to put up with Met Council’s plans to extend the HOV lane along I35W which will further jack up the congestion all in a brazen attempt to make their under-utilized transit services look more appealing.
Also, the Met Council proposal for I35W also includes the future addition of a toll-lane similiar to I394. That makes a lot of a sense; make people pay additional fees to be to utilize a road they already paid for in gas taxes.
The Met should ditch the HOV lane altogether - it decreases traffic flow by 33% and increases the potential for accidents.
I don’t work downtown - and I really wonder what percentage of the working population in Dakota county does.
(I posted this same comment at ThisWeekLive - funny how any comments against their agenda get mysteriously erased.)
April 27th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Karl,
I have no problems with a “pay as you go” type arrangement. I also agree that the HOV lanes are pretty wasteful.
I have only posted comments to the HomeTownSource Blogs. Two comments, against their agenda were approved, one (on a different blog there) was not.
Bill