Fulton Officials To Discuss $1.2B In Transportation Money
At a meeting Monday of Fulton County commissioners and mayors, $1.2 billion in potential transportation funding will be on the table. They’ll likely need the help of state lawmakers before they see the money.
“If we try and we’re successful, then the Legislature’s right,” said Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, “If we try and get close and are not successful I would hope the Legislature would tweak the statute to allow less than unanimous consent.”
Current state law says all 14 mayors and seven county commissioners in Fulton need to agree on a transportation plan if they want to get all the money, and voters would ultimately need to approve a sales tax hike.
Plus, MARTA says it wants a portion of that money for a huge expansion, and that has split mayors in North Fulton.
Mayors in Johns Creek and Alpharetta are opposed.
Wood supports directing new sales tax revenue to MARTA. He said getting everyone to agree on a plan could take years, but with time the task could get easier.
“As the traffic grows worse I think the pressure grows greater to come up with a solution, and that puts pressure on the counties and the cities and Legislature to come up with a solution,” he said.
Wood said state lawmakers could change the law so the mayors and commissioners aren’t required to unanimously agree on a plan.
Fulton County commission chair John Eaves will lead Monday’s discussion.
“I’m very optimistic,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for Fulton County as a single jurisdiction to address what’s the No. 1 complaint of many people in our region, and that’s traffic.”
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