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HRT urges pursuit of dedicated revenue, city warns of tax trade-offs
Summary
HRT officials urged regional leaders to explore dedicated funding (sales tax shares, gas tax, toll revenue) to stabilize transit funding; city staff warned that, absent federal funds, the local tax burden would rise and proposed "Plan B" reserve options and cost-allocation changes.
Hampton Roads Transit officials pressed the need for a dedicated revenue source to stabilize regional transit funding and avoid recurring large true-ups for member cities.
"There are a number of different types, and we are pulling together information in terms of how other communities... it's a portion of sales tax," Harrell said, describing funding models that include sales-tax allocations, portions of gas taxes or toll revenue. He said the region would need business and community consensus and likely enabling legislation from the General Assembly to implement such a mechanism.
City Manager Bunting said the city is already making a significant investment in transit — roughly $4.6 million plus the recent true-up — and warned that losing federal funds would leave only farebox recovery and local contributions unless a dedicated source is created. Staff said one short-term mitigation they will propose is an amendment to cost-allocation to permit building reserves over time rather than distributing all surpluses back to member localities.
Council members pressed what dedicated funding looks like in practice, and staff emphasized that any plan will require regional agreement and legislative enabling authority.
