VTA hopes funding trick will pay off VTA hopes funding trick will pay off (April 15, 2005)

Endangered BART project could get boost from accounting trick

By Jon Wiener

County transit officials are hoping some creative accounting for the $4.2 billion BART-to-San Jose extension will help bypass a major setback dealt by the federal government last month.

The 16.3-mile BART extension appeared doomed in early March when the top federal transit chief recommended projects meet a minimum cost-efficiency standard to become eligible for federal funding. Valley Transportation Authority officials said they would be unable to reach the standard, citing the high cost of doing business in Silicon Valley.

But last week the Federal Transit Administration agreed to measure the project's efficiency by only using a 10-mile stretch from Fremont to Berryessa Road, leaving out the most expensive and controversial portion underneath downtown San Jose.

"It just puts us in a much more positive position to get funding," said VTA spokesperson Bernice Alaniz.

Instead of a $973 million subsidy, the agency will ask for somewhere around $700 million. Alaniz said the agency would try to make up the difference by cutting costs elsewhere. She added the scaled-back plan in no way indicated that supporters would consider building the line in phases.

But if only part of the line is efficient enough to get federal approval, say opponents, why build the rest of it?

Los Altos Mayor David Casas, who represents the northern cities on the VTA board, called the repackaged plan "a shell game."

"This has been spun as a creative solution," he said. "I see it as trying to hide a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Leaders questioning the project can be found in greater frequency the further one gets from downtown San Jose. The VTA has sustained the heaviest criticism in cities like Mountain View.

Fears that BART will suck away money now spent on bus and light rail service has prompted Mountain View, Palo Alto and most recently Los Altos to send letters to the VTA criticizing plans to ask voters for another new sales tax to fund the project.

Liz Kniss, former mayor of Palo Alto, represents the county Board of Supervisors on the VTA Board. An advocate for phasing, she said she was upset to find out about the change through the press.

"It's one more example of us in the north part of the county being totally ignorant of what staff decisions may have been made," said Kniss.

The VTA board is scheduled to discuss its 30-year expenditure plan - which relies on voters approving a new half-cent sales tax - on April 22. An apparent lack of support for the half-cent measure has led some supporters to call for a quarter-cent tax instead. An official vote on the plan could take place as soon as May 5.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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