YOUR VEHICLE TAX INCREASED TO PAY FOR PLUSH IMPROVEMENTS TO FAYETTEVILLE STREET

Think that your vehicle tax was increased to address critical transportation needs throughout Raleigh? Think again.

According to the city of Raleigh, the tax will bring in about $1.4 million a year. What is that paying for? It appears for the extenstion of Fayetteville Street. The cost for that is $1.46 million. And that's just the beginning on costs for the Phase II extension.

From the minutes:
"Mayor Meeker moved approval of the recommendation as outlined and asked Administration to provide the budget information as requested by Ms. Taliaferro. His motion was seconded by Ms. Taliaferro and a roll call vote resulted in all members voting in the affirmative except Mr. Craven who voted in the negative. "

And we note once again Taliaferro's complaint about the lack of transportation dollars for items in her district. This would have more than covered the items mentioned in a previous post.

Priorities are what you pursue, not what you profess.

Hope you enjoy the upcoming potholes on your street as fall and winter approaches. You likely won't see them on Fayetteville Street.

TIMBERLAKE PARK VERSUS CITY PLAZA ..... PLAZA WINS!

In Friday's N&O, the paper highlighted Raleigh's plans to finally move forward with planning a park from land purchased in 1973. The article notes that "In 2003, voters approved $2 million as part of a bond package to begin development of the park. It's likely not enough to complete the entire plan."

We approved a park bond in 2003 for this and it takes this long to get moving? Why is it that we seem to be able to tear up and replace downtown in half the time it takes them to get a public meeting held just for the master plan on this park? While the N&O quotes a $2 million figure, the City of Raleigh's website says that $130,000 was allocated for planning of Timberlake Park.

Still, it has taken four years to get to this stage of planning?

And apparently we don't have the funds allocated to finish the park at present.

They have moved forward on redesigning City Plaza after the Plensa fiasco and finding $16 million in about a year and we've only come this far on a neighborhood park that at one point was plagued with drug dealers?

Will Jesse Taliaferro push for as expeditious movement on this as Raleigh has done with City Plaza? She should. It's in her district. She could scale back City Plaza even more to make funds available for projects such as this that the lower-middle class residents of that area of her district could enjoy.

Or she could just raise taxes and fees to cover more plush renovations of downtown Raleigh that voters have not been given the chance to vote on.

Wanna bet which project gets done first? I know where the smart money is.

One more thing:

Location - Outside the Beltline

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! (PART TWO)

Jessie Taliaferro complains in today's N&O about the lack of state funding for Capital Boulevard - a state-level responsibility. She states:

"Just like with everything else, the state has not been investing in the city of Raleigh," said City Council member Jessie Taliaferro. "They're not doing it, and we have to step in."

Maybe Taliaferro can find $420,000 out of the $16 million she supported in funding the city plaza project in downtown Raleigh.

One thing to note about the Capital Boulevard improvements. They are all outside the Beltline.

One final thing on spending - The N&O also righfully notes that:

"Put in perspective, the money for Capital is less than 7 percent of the $6.3 million the city plans to spend on its largest pedestrian safety project on Hillsborough Street, a street with nowhere near the deaths of Capital Boulevard. "

Which is, of course, inside the Beltline. Taliaferro supported that also.