Photo by Caleb Groves

By Caleb Groves

The Cobb County Transit Advisory Board adopted a resolution on Tuesday, June 5, 2024, to recommend that the Board of Commissioners place the 30-year mobility tax on voter ballots in November.

Steps toward the public transit expansion continued as the Cobb Transit Advisory Board recommended the Board of Commissioners call for a referendum to place the 1% sales tax on the 2024 general election ballot. Amid discussion for the expansion, board members weighed in on the issue with mixed opinions on the proposed tax.

The Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (MSPLOST) project would roll out in phases, starting with a focus on micro transit in cities for the first five years; a south Cobb Transit Center, Riverside Cobb Transit Center and countywide micro transit within 10 years; and a full buildout by 2055, including updated amenities, more buses and 108 miles of rapid bus routes.

In total, the projects are estimated to cost $14 billion to fund projects and maintain the transit system.

Prior to voting on the resolution, the board voiced their concerns and opinions on the MPSLOST.

MSPLOST Support

Many supporters backed placing the measure on the ballot, but think the planned rollout could be improved or even delayed.

“There are some challenges with it,” board member Walter Kolis said. “Do I wish there were some things that were different on the project list? Perhaps, but this is a great place to get that information out there, to put that on the ballot for voters to decide to be able to have their say.”

Similarly, board members Connor Manthey and Ken Marlin said there needs to be some sort of investment to improve public transit across the county and Cobb’s population grows, but the project list could be improved.

Chairwoman Allison Bickers raised concerns over attracting businesses to the county through public transit.

“I think it’s important the time is right not only to stay competitive nationally and internationally,” Bickers said. “We know that there are areas where we are losing out on attracting the businesses and events because we do not have good transit access. But also, this is a time when federally we are investing dollars in this and we want to be able to take advantage of where federal funding is currently happening and to position ourselves to receive that federal funding.”

Later in the meeting, she said that even if Cobb voters do not approve of the tax, it is still a step toward improving public transit.

Likewise, transit proponent and board member Matt Stigall supports the idea of the project. He said Cobb’s services today are not competitive and part of the issue is funding, which the MSPLOST could aid.

“People currently do not take transit, but would love to take it more often, or would love to be able to bike to local destinations, but are just not able to because it’s just currently unsafe,” Stigall said. “Would love to walk around, but currently can’t because there’s no sidewalks, so the connectivity of sidewalks is pretty poor in the county. So as someone who would love to get around this county without using a car, I currently cannot, at least very often.”

Stigall went on, “Before I leave my house, before I go to anything, I sit there and I say, can I do anything without taking my car? Can I go there? And the truth is, no, on like 90-some percent of my trips.”

Opposition

Despite the support, some members of the board were still weary of placing the tax on the ballot for the lack of project planning, length and cost of implementation.

Board member Forrest Shealy said the proposal does not have a clear vision and lacks data to support the ridership demand. He also criticized the lack of rail lines in the plans.

“I am opposed to the referendum now because the formation of projects we have is strategically misaligned, and I think it would be a horrible error,” Shealy said.

For board member Jeff Souther, he opposes the tax in part because of the affordability of living in Cobb.

“We have a problem right now with people being able to afford to live in Cobb County,” Souther said. “We also have the general inflationary economy. It’s just a bad time to be asking for a tax increase because we’re already getting those.”

Following discussion of the projects, the TAB voted in a 6-3 split to adopt the resolution, with board members James Darden, Shealy and Souther in opposition.

“As we sit here today in 2024, we can’t keep kicking the can down the road, we can keep delaying this, Stigall said. “This is an opportunity to give voters that opportunity to decide.”