After voters passed a property tax to benefit the struggling Capital Area Transit System on Saturday, opposing sides still have strong feelings about the election.
The CATS tax passed narrowly, collecting 54 percent of the vote in Baton Rouge.
Jared Loftus, local entrepreneur and CATS board member, said the board is “very excited the community came together and decided that public transportation is something that’s a valued service.”
Loftus said the tax won’t appear on tax bills until next January, but in the meantime, the board is making spending plans, collecting public input, ordering additional buses and implementing GPS tracking devices in buses.
It will take some time for Baton Rouge residents to adopt and utilize the soon-to-be overhauled transit system, Loftus said, but improved public transit will eventually add to the city’s allure.
For example, Loftus said people often don’t utilize CATS because of the long wait between buses. But the tax will allow a shift from 75-minute wait times to 15-minute wait times.
“We’ve got to get the word out that this is a new system and a new service,” Loftus said.
Loftus said he’s not discouraged about the divisiveness the CATS tax caused, since several opponents have voiced support for improved transportation.
He said it’s important for groups to collaborate to make CATS the best system possible.
“The important thing is that [the election] brought the conversation up,” he said. “Lots of people I heard from are not in favor of the tax, but are in favor of public transit.”
Taxbusters is one of those opposing groups. Though it agrees there’s a need for public transportation, it doesn’t believe a tax is the solution.
According to its website, Taxbusters’ mission is “to fight excessive taxation and irresponsible spending at the local, state and national levels.”
Taxbusters spokesman Alex Velasquez said the organization believes the CATS tax is “a terrible tax and a huge misappropriation of funds.”
Velasquez said the former CATS budget of $12 million a year should have been enough to provide adequate service for Baton Rouge.
Part of the additional $17 million will be dedicated to expanding routes and adding buses, but Velasquez said those aren’t necessary.
“It doesn’t need any more because the buses are empty anyway,” he said. “Why add more buses? Why add more routes?”
Velasquez said he doesn’t believe the transit system will be better utilized after it’s improved.
He said he thinks the campaign was flawed because “it was sold as an emotional package.”
 
 
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Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]