Transit advocates in the region are pushing the idea of a 1/2-cent sales tax in each of the three Triangle counties (voters in each would have to approve) to pay for better bus service and, eventually, a 56-mile long light-rail or diesel-rail commuter line from Chapel Hil to Durham to Raleigh. From the progressive N.C. Budget & Tax Center, an arm of the N.C. Justice Center, policy analyst Steve Jackson demurs: Property taxes, "land-based fees" (based on traffic counts, perhaps) and tax-increment fees that capture the increased value of developments near transit stations, would be more fair and less volatile than a sales tax, Jackson says.
THE INDY IS FREE. MAKING IT ISN'T.
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