Dedicated Tax Funds Pursued For Metro

D.C., Va., Md. React To Davis Incentive

Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington) is sponsor of a bill that passed the Virginia Senate yesterday. (By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)

RICHMOND -- The District, Virginia and Maryland are actively considering legislation that would for the first time guarantee a steady source of tax revenue for Metro.

If the rare collective effort succeeds, it will meet a challenge thrown down last year by Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who submitted a bill to give Metro $1.5 billion in federal aid if the region's jurisdictions pledge to support public transit by dedicating a rock-solid source of revenue to it.

Supporters of the effort say they hope to ensure the future of the vast rail and bus network on which the region's economy depends. The task is a daunting one, because it requires jurisdictions with sometimes conflicting political outlooks to do something in unison for the sake of the region's future. Among the most obvious ways to create a source of revenue is to approve a new tax or raise an old one, but that is a course legislators are reluctant to take.

Davis said he was encouraged that each jurisdiction has introduced legislation that would match the offer in his bill, which still must pass Congress.

"There is a recognition from all the jurisdictions that something needs to be done. . . . We're happy about that," he said. "One of the things we're concerned about is if two jurisdictions came up with all of the money and only one came up with, say, half."

The District took the lead in December when the D.C. Council expressed unanimous support for a bill to set aside $50 million for Metro by 2009. It would do so by dedicating a portion of the city's sales tax to the transit agency.

Now the District is awaiting action by the two neighboring states, whose legislatures are considering various bills that would support the effort.

Yesterday, the Virginia Senate voted 36 to 3 for a bill that would increase the sales tax in Northern Virginia communities served by Metro by one-quarter of a cent. Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) was the only member from Northern Virginia to oppose it. The bill still has to pass the House of Delegates, where the Republican majority has strongly opposed tax increases.

"I'm certainly in favor of the effort," said Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "But it's going to be an uphill fight."

Despite the obstacles, local leaders who support guaranteeing money for Metro say an important threshold has been crossed, because there is general agreement among the jurisdictions that they each need to find a way to dedicate money to Metro.

"It's quite unusual that our region has come together and agreed they will match the federal funds," said Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington), sponsor of the bill that passed yesterday. "I don't want to be the person who leaves that amount of money on the table rather than using it for a very necessary public service."

Whipple's bill is one of several under consideration in Virginia. Another possibility is that the transportation financing plan introduced by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) could provide the state's share.