Baton Rouge voters will go to the polls Oct. 2 for a property tax increase that would almost double funding for the city’s cash-strapped Capitol Area Transit System.  
CATS administrators say the tax would allow for decreased wait times and an expanded service area and would allow the system to reinstate previously cut routes.
“What you’ll see essentially is doubling the number of buses,” said Brian Marshall, CEO of CATS. “We’re totally going to revamp the system.”
Marshall said bus routes would be completely redone, including possible routes through campus.
The tax would be a 3.5-mill increase implemented over a 12-year period. A mill is a thousandth of a currency unit, meaning the tax increase will amount to the assessed value of a property multiplied by 3.5 and divided by a thousand.
For example, an owner of a $100,000 property would see an increase of $8.75 a year, while an owner of a $200,000 property would see an increase of $43.75.
“We know we need a run down Nicholson. We need to run a bus to the Mall of Louisiana,” Marshall said.
Marshall said the money would also result in cleaner emissions from the buses. He says the system currently doesn’t meet EPA emissions standards — the tax would fund changes allowing the buses to become more environmentally friendly.
Marshall said because the vast majority of students do not own property and would thus not pay the tax, they should support the proposal.
“Here’s the possibility for students to see double the service at no cost to themselves,” he said.
CATS was the primary transit system for campus until spring 2009. The company currently operates a stop on Highland Road across from the Student Union, with buses arriving roughly every 30 minutes.
Marshall said the increased funding would significantly decrease that wait time.
This isn’t the first attempted tax increase designed to fund to the bus system. In 2002, parish voters narrowly defeated a 1.25-mill tax by a 47-53 margin.
In 2006 the CATS board attempted to schedule a vote on a 20-year, 8.5-mill property tax. That proposal was removed from the ballot after pressure from public officials.
The tax will share the Oct. 2 ballot with a statewide election for lieutenant governor and district elections for school board throughout Baton Rouge.
On the same day, Zachary voters will choose councilmen, a mayor and chief of police.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at
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