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Bend Park and Rec Resolution #307
(signed 9-2-08 to support formation of a transit district to fund Bend Area Public Transit)
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Here's what The Bulletin had to say:
Vote for transit
Published: September 03. 2008 4:00AM PST
If you’re a resident of Bend, you should be clear about one thing: If the transit district proposal on the November ballot is defeated, the city of Bend will be forced to make drastic cuts to an already spare public transportation system. If you’re a resident of Deschutes River Woods, meanwhile, you might want to keep in mind the idea that forming the district offers your best hope of public transportation for the foreseeable future.
Supporters of the proposed district, which would take the city’s BAT system out of the city budget and give it its own permanent source of income, make the predictable arguments in support of the plan. Public transit takes cars off the roads, reducing air pollution in the process and cutting the demand for fuel in the region. It’s good for business because businesses considering relocating here are far more interested in communities with public transportation than in those without.
They’ll tell you that the tax rate proposed for the district, 39.3 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value, is locked in stone, that it cannot be raised. In fact, if the district someday needs more money, state law says it will have to seek a short-term local option levy or some other tax that cannot be adopted without a vote of the people.
They’ll tell you, too, that if the district and tax rate are approved, both BAT, the city’s fixed-route system, and Dial-A-Ride will be able to expand, the former by adding hours and routes, the latter by adding buses so it can better meet demand.
But for most of us, those who do not use public transportation and who are unlikely to do so in the future, the best reason to support the new district is that for a portion of our community, public transportation is the only transportation available. College students here use BAT; so do families with very low incomes. As for Dial-A-Ride, it provides many in the community’s handicapped and elderly populations their only independent means of travel around town. Creation of the district, in other words, is something we should support as a matter of conscience, if nothing else.
The proposed district isn’t very expensive, as public agencies go. With taxable assessed value of homes at about 43 percent of true market value, on average, the owner of a home with a market value of roughly $1 million could well pay only $160 per year to support the district. Owners of less expensive homes would pay proportionally less.
Bend residents like to think of themselves as part of a community that takes care of its own. They and the residents of Deschutes River Woods, which would be included in the new district, will be able to put their money where their beliefs are this November, when they’ll be asked to approve the proposed transit district. They should do so.
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