#bond-and-parcel-tax

#bond-and-parcel-tax

"Caltrain and BART would very likely be looking at shutting down passenger service," Deputy Director of Policy Development Melissa Jones said. "In that case, the agencies would be focused on maintenance, trying to secure our assets, keep everything safe while we regroup for the future."

The tax provides more than $23 billion per year in revenue for federal highway and public transit programs. The federal gas tax has been in place, in one way or another, since 1919 and was last raised in 1993.

Good urbanism should transcend politics. Socialists and capitalists can walk the same neighborhood and agree it's a pleasant place to live. They can each appreciate the tree canopy, the corner café with people spilling onto the sidewalk, the mix of ages on bikes and on foot, the architectural details of older buildings, and so on.

Through Community Facilities Districts (CFD), Municipal Utility Districts (MUD), Public Improvement Districts (PID), Community Development Districts (CDD) and reimbursement districts (RD), builders can potentially shift infrastructure costs off their balance sheets and onto special districts that homebuyers ultimately absorb through property taxes without potentially adding debt to the builder's books.

The Portland Housing Bureau has found additional unspent dollars in its coffers, adding to the previous $21 million it found through an audit last year. It is unclear exactly how much money is in the fund, but Council President Jamie Dunphy called councilors over the weekend to tell them they would soon learn of the specifics of what was found in the Housing Investment Fund. He told the Mercury February 2 that he did not yet know how much total funding was available.

"If we don't get what we need [in terms of extra government help] then a Section 114 Notice will come in, which is effective bankruptcy. We'd then get administrators come in, in effect - they'd then make a plan for where the money gets spent in Worcestershire. It would be a catastrophe. We're going to have to halt projects that were put into the budget by the previous administration, things that maybe were 'nice to have', but we can't afford them."

San Jose city leaders are moving ahead with a June ballot measure to raise hotel taxes, seeking to generate millions of dollars for critical services amid budgetary woes. With the city already forced to cut previously approved services and institute a hiring freeze to rebalance this year's budget, next year promises to be even more challenging, as San Jose faces an estimated potential shortfall of $55 million to $65 million, due in part to the sluggish economy and stagnating revenue.