Proposition two Transportation Bond Act

Make sure everyone votes yes on Tuesday. Tell all your friends and family. Very important for the LIRR.


http://www.mta.info/mta/bondact.htm

After the 1 Billion Dollar surplus its gone be a hard sale to get this past.
specialy since MTA seem to want to spend the $1billion on pet projects.

My taxes are high enough. Let those who use transit pay for it.

I agree with Clem on this one. This is a push to try to get a bond act passed that was trounced about 2 years ago because of all the excessive pork, and the fact that our children and grandchildren will be paying for it for the rest of our lives.

My guess is they figured it would have a better chance this year in an off-election year.

I hope it dies like the first one.

Jay

The only thing that sucks if it doesn't pass is that we will loose the matching funds from the federal govenment for the east side access and 2nd ave subway line. That east side will never get done. Another state will end up getting the 900 million in matching money. Thats not good. All the work that it will create will be pissed out the window.

Floating bonds to pay for capital projects is the right use of debt. And as far as letting the people who use mass transit pay for it, they already do. New Yorkers in the MTA region pay more of the cost of a mass transit system then any other mass transit system in the country. Plus, downstaters pay the majority of state income taxes that will pay off the bonds.
New York State will really be in for it, if the economy of NYC suffers because people can't get to work because the 6 train is so packed or because the LIRR can't get any trains into Penn. These projects are very important to the future of the city and the state. I hope the issue passes.

RTA, I'll bet you don't own property in Nassau or pay taxes...

Which tax will be going up on Wednesday if this thing passes on Tuesday???? Are we really going to worry about 40 years from now. If the region dosen't grow then we will have alot of other problems in forty years.

That's the problem, Point, there are no funds identified to fund this rediculous spending orgy. Just pile on more debt and we'll figure out how to pay for it later. We're in a taxing mess in this county, where the average property tax exceeds the entire annual earnings of 50% of Americans.

It's time we figured out where the money will come from before we pick numbers out of the sky to spend.

Those of us on the inside of the transportation sector see the massive waste of government dollars. The LIRR's management forces, most of whom are of dubious value, have grown from 30 people thirty years ago to over a thousand today. Simple projects, like replacing a 1000 foot platform at Rosedale are costing in the tens-of-millions.

East Side Access has already spent over $550,000,000 of YOUR tax money. Thats $2750 per LIRR rider, and the ground hasn't even been scratched.

I'm sure anyone in any government sector can attest to the criminal waste and outright theft of our money.

Sorry, Point, I'm not about to authorize more unaccounted spending of funds that don't exist and that can only come from one source -- ME and my kids.

Clemuel

I am voting against that. I am disgusted with the debt that this State has taken on and the wonton waste of tax money by the MTA.

Clem,
I don't own property in Nassau County(I live and own in Queens), but I do pay taxes. I'm not really sure why you would think I don't, but you're one for two. Property taxes are high on Nassau for many reasons, some because of the State, and many being the County's fault.
If you ask me if New York State spends too much money, the answer is yes. But floating bonds just to pay the bills is one thing, and floating bonds to pay for future economic growth is another.
If you ask me if the MTA needs to get it's cost under control, I'll say yes. Unfortunetly, government bodies tend to be bloated, that's not an excuse just a fact.
The simple fact is we need to expand the system. The highways on Long Island are jammed, the East River crossings are at or over capacity, the LIRR cannot put any more trains into Penn. Do you have a better solution?
For you to say that nothing has been done on ESA is not true. 1.A major section of the tunnel is already built under the East River. 2.Sections of the Sunnyside Yard have been cleared of old track. 3.A maintenance facility in LIC has been built. 4.We have recieved Federal funds for the project.(There are also other thiings completed.)
I completly understand that you feel that adding new debt is bad thing. I just think this is to important.
Any how, we'll find out on Tuesday.

Just another few pionts:
People who use transit should pay for it. They should put EZPass tolls on the LIE.(And on the GCP, the Northern State, Southern State, etc.)
ESA will bring shorter commute times, so some people on Long Island can actually see the kids some times.
If people can't get to work, because the LIE is backed up to Riverhead, who's going to be able to pay any taxes in the future?
If you want a bloated government agency,we can look at Nassau County. The Alantic Beach Bridge has like a 100 people working at it. They charge a toll(lower for the people who live there), and it is still falling apart.

Adding bonds is not the answer , currently MTA has $1billion surplus, let them use that first before adding more loans(bonds).
They have been licking their chops to spend the $1bilion on some outragous projects like the platform over westside yard and new headquarters. how many new Headquarters are they gone build, the last few new Headquarters were riddeled with corruption and overruns.

Clem has a point about the state's finances being out-of-control. Furthermore, we've been trying to build the Second Ave. Subway for exactly 50 years now. And the Lexington Ave. subway has been strained to it's limits for those 50 years, since the Third Ave. el was shut down. We've had several transportation bond issues passed and still no new subway. What guarantee is there that it will get built now?

Dutch-

This Board is about the LIRR, Not the MNCR. The Platform is for the West Side Yard not the Hillside Yard. For your knowledge the Hillside Facility is where the LIRR will be fixing Metro North's fleet this winter.