Brian Robinson OR Carol Goter Robinson OR Bill Robinson
2003-12-31 03:39:53 UTC
Crossposted to dc. * newsgroups. Oops!
In case anyone's interested, which I'll note most are not:
New Funding Strategy in Works for Dulles Rail
Proposal to Create Dual Tax Districts Under Consideration
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 28, 2003; Page PW05
Major property owners in the Dulles corridor have recently
met with Fairfax County officials in hopes of resurrecting a
financing plan that would pay for a 23-mile Metrorail extension
through Tysons Corner to Dulles International Airport.
Under consideration is the creation of two special tax districts,
one around Tysons Corner and the other in the Reston-Herndon area.
Commercial property owners within the tax districts would pay an
added real estate tax for rail construction.
The tax -- estimated to be able to support as much as $625
million worth of construction -- would fill a key gap in the
project's $3.4 billion financing plan.
"I am very heartened by the progress," said Gerald E. Connolly
(D), incoming chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
"There is a lot that's going on. People understand the stakes here."
The financing plan for the project, the centerpiece of the region's
transportation future, unraveled this month when the Herndon Town
Council vetoed a single tax district for the Dulles corridor that
was to have provided Fairfax's portion of the funding. Without the
county share, the long-planned project cannot move forward.
"The Herndon action really scared people," Connolly said.
"They knew they had to get busy."
The two tax districts under consideration for the rail corridor
would replace the scuttled single tax district proposal. That was
rejected in large part because property owners in Reston and Herndon
feared that the project might draw on their taxes but that its
tracks would never reach that far west because the federal
government might decide to stop funding it.
The dual tax district plan resolves those concerns. With two
districts, property owners in Tysons would pay directly for the
rail line to reach Tysons Corner in the first phase, while Reston
and Herndon property owners would contribute toward the second phase
of the project that would bring the rail line to Reston, Herndon and
the airport.
Although possibly resolving the dispute between eastern and western
landowners, the two-district approach will cost more to finance.
"You lose the synergy," said county budget official Leonard Wales.
"When you go to two different tax districts, you have to make
adjustments. You can either raise the tax rate or extend the term
of the payments or some kind of credit enhancement."
Planning for the two tax districts, however, is in a preliminary
stage, officials said.
"It is not finalized," said Eric Peterson, executive director of
LEADER, for Landowners Economic Alliance for the Dulles Extension
of Rail, a property owners group forming the Tysons area tax district.
"Safe to say we're moving ahead. We will have a proposal."
The organizers of the Reston-Herndon area tax district are waiting
for the first group to announce its plans.
"We have to figure out what the first phase will look like," said
Peter Johnston, senior vice president of Boston Properties, one of
the major landowners in the area. "Until we have their end point,
we don't have our beginning point."
Once the tax districts are defined and the initial tax rates set,
organizers must gather signatures from property owners showing that
a majority support the proposal. The county must then grant approval.
Some said they believe the eastern tax district may be ready for the
board's consideration as early as Jan. 26.
Under the terms of the general financing plan for the Metrorail
extension, the federal government would pay 50 percent of the cost,
the state would chip in 25 percent from a toll increase on the
Dulles Toll Road, and the rest would come from Fairfax County,
Loudoun County and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
In case anyone's interested, which I'll note most are not:
New Funding Strategy in Works for Dulles Rail
Proposal to Create Dual Tax Districts Under Consideration
By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 28, 2003; Page PW05
Major property owners in the Dulles corridor have recently
met with Fairfax County officials in hopes of resurrecting a
financing plan that would pay for a 23-mile Metrorail extension
through Tysons Corner to Dulles International Airport.
Under consideration is the creation of two special tax districts,
one around Tysons Corner and the other in the Reston-Herndon area.
Commercial property owners within the tax districts would pay an
added real estate tax for rail construction.
The tax -- estimated to be able to support as much as $625
million worth of construction -- would fill a key gap in the
project's $3.4 billion financing plan.
"I am very heartened by the progress," said Gerald E. Connolly
(D), incoming chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
"There is a lot that's going on. People understand the stakes here."
The financing plan for the project, the centerpiece of the region's
transportation future, unraveled this month when the Herndon Town
Council vetoed a single tax district for the Dulles corridor that
was to have provided Fairfax's portion of the funding. Without the
county share, the long-planned project cannot move forward.
"The Herndon action really scared people," Connolly said.
"They knew they had to get busy."
The two tax districts under consideration for the rail corridor
would replace the scuttled single tax district proposal. That was
rejected in large part because property owners in Reston and Herndon
feared that the project might draw on their taxes but that its
tracks would never reach that far west because the federal
government might decide to stop funding it.
The dual tax district plan resolves those concerns. With two
districts, property owners in Tysons would pay directly for the
rail line to reach Tysons Corner in the first phase, while Reston
and Herndon property owners would contribute toward the second phase
of the project that would bring the rail line to Reston, Herndon and
the airport.
Although possibly resolving the dispute between eastern and western
landowners, the two-district approach will cost more to finance.
"You lose the synergy," said county budget official Leonard Wales.
"When you go to two different tax districts, you have to make
adjustments. You can either raise the tax rate or extend the term
of the payments or some kind of credit enhancement."
Planning for the two tax districts, however, is in a preliminary
stage, officials said.
"It is not finalized," said Eric Peterson, executive director of
LEADER, for Landowners Economic Alliance for the Dulles Extension
of Rail, a property owners group forming the Tysons area tax district.
"Safe to say we're moving ahead. We will have a proposal."
The organizers of the Reston-Herndon area tax district are waiting
for the first group to announce its plans.
"We have to figure out what the first phase will look like," said
Peter Johnston, senior vice president of Boston Properties, one of
the major landowners in the area. "Until we have their end point,
we don't have our beginning point."
Once the tax districts are defined and the initial tax rates set,
organizers must gather signatures from property owners showing that
a majority support the proposal. The county must then grant approval.
Some said they believe the eastern tax district may be ready for the
board's consideration as early as Jan. 26.
Under the terms of the general financing plan for the Metrorail
extension, the federal government would pay 50 percent of the cost,
the state would chip in 25 percent from a toll increase on the
Dulles Toll Road, and the rest would come from Fairfax County,
Loudoun County and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company