In a move that is reopening old political wounds with Sonoma County, some Marin County officials are pushing Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit to defer its start-up plans until the plan and sales tax projections are subjected to an outside review.
Judy Arnold, chairwoman of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said additional scrutiny is needed because SMART has decided to build the commuter rail line in segments in response to a $350 million funding shortfall.
The system, which was originally designed to carry passengers from Cloverdale to Larkspur, will initially stretch from Santa Rosa to the Marin Civic Center in northern San Rafael. The agency plans to extend service to Cloverdale and Larkspur two to four years after the rail line opens in 2014.
"I am looking out for Marin County," said Arnold, who is also a SMART director. "For a train to go from Novato to northern San Rafael will do precious little. It should go to the San Rafael Transit Center, where there is connectivity with buses."
Arnold has written a letter to SMART that will be considered by Marin supervisors Tuesday. It asks SMART to defer selling construction bonds or entering into any contracts until a review of SMART sales tax projections and the commute line's overall viability is completed.
The review is currently being undertaken by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
The letter also asks SMART to provide new figures on the impact of its plan to build the rail line in stages. It seeks information on how the new plan would affect traffic, parking, station construction and ridership at the Marin Civic Center.
Larkspur Mayor Joan Lundstrom, who is also a member of the SMART board of directors, said the letter is not meant to derail SMART. Instead, she wants a prudent look at exactly how much money SMART has before it lays track or, as it is scheduled to do on Dec. 15, purchases trains.
"We have to remind ourselves this is a major start-up project. Whether it is half a project, three quarters of a project or a whole project, we have to take a hard look at the fundamentals," Lundstrom said.
The letter is fueling the rift between Sonoma and Marin over the two-county commuter line.
SMART Chairwoman Debora Fudge on Monday called it the latest salvo in an ongoing war against the rail agency waged by Marin County opponents of Measure Q, the quarter-cent sales tax measure that funds SMART.
"As board chair, having worked extremely closely with staff, I am very confident in the financial projections," said Fudge, a Windsor council member. "I believe the request is a calculated stall tactic that will hurt SMART. I don't support it at all."
Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane, also a SMART director, called it "obstructionist politics." Marin voters have already approved SMART and Arnold should respect that, Zane said.
"That train has left the station," she said. "It is the height of elitism to obstruct a $400 million economic stimulus ... we are creating $400 million in jobs."
SMART had expected to get $31 million a year in sales taxes, but revenue projections have fallen to $25 million a year.
SMART's financial consultants expect revenues will increase only slightly over the next several years, but SMART critics contend tax revenues will fall even lower.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is already reviewing the revenue projections as part of its role as the Bay Area's regional transportation planner, MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler said. The review should be completed within two weeks.
Measure Q passed in November 2008, but it was Sonoma County voters who pushed the measure over the required two-thirds threshold. Measure Q was supported by 73.7 percent of voters in Sonoma and 62.8 percent in Marin, for a combined 70 percent.
Since that vote, however, SMART has blamed the economic downturn for depressing sales tax revenues and the bond market, crippling SMART's plan to open the 70-mile line from Cloverdale to Larkspur as promised in the fall of 2014.
The rail agency now faces a $350 million shortfall between the amount of money it can raise and the amount it will take to build the entire line.
As a result, the SMART board voted Nov. 6 to build the line in segments. The agency plans to begin with service between Railroad Square in Santa Rosa and the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, scheduled to open in the fall of 2014.
Extending the line to Cloverdale and to Larkspur would require additional state and federal funds and take two to four years longer, according to the plan.
Valerie Brown, who chairs the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and also sits on the SMART board, said the studies that Arnold wants would be expensive and the money better spent on the rail line.
"If there are questions to be asked, they get asked, but the voters have already said they want a SMART rail project," Brown said. "Asking MTC to look at the long-term viability at this junction in the process is not altogether valuable."
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