"MARTA Fund Doubtful": The Atlanta Constitution newspaper article

"MARTA Fund Doubtful": The Atlanta Constitution newspaper article

MARTA fund is doubtful

This newspaper article by Sharon Bailey addresses the issue that MARTA is requesting high amounts of federal money. MARTA wants to receive $291 million by 1975, but the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) says that is too big of a reach though they will try to accommodate. UMTA has $872 million to give away for capital expenditures, but they already have six major U.S cities in line to tackle some of that money. MARTA officials are lobbying hard for this grant so they will not have to increase sales taxes. This is also one of the only options for MARTA considering they do not get any federal funding from the state. If this request is not fulfilled, MARTA will have to pay for the system through their second option of taking more local money from Atlanta residents. Bailey suggests that grant requests will only increase as MARTA keeps adding vehicles and higher wages for employees. This is a problem MARTA has been dealing with ever since 1971 when Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell introduced the idea of a local option sales tax that no other Georgia jurisdiction has had before. Georgia law does not require that the state set aside funds for MARTA. In fact, MARTA is the only transit system that receives no federal funding from the state. According to an article by Willoughby Mariano, the agency consistently receives $2 million annually from the General Assembly for capital expenses, but none of that money is dedicated to MARTA. MARTA must ask the legislator for money each year which makes it hard for them to plan budgets (Mariano, politifact.com). Mariano compared MARTA’s situation with Washington’s transit system who also does not receive federal funding. However, whenever Washington asked for grants “they get hundreds of millions of dollars” and “18 percent of its operating funds come from Maryland and Washington” (Mariano, Politifact.com). MARTA still does not get anything close to what Washington receives. Even though it seems like a lot, this might be MARTA’s only hope to withstand their reputation.

The Atlanta Constitution

UGA Special Collections Library

Mon., Jan. 7, 1974

Sharon Bailey

English

Newspaper