Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on the high-speed ferry:
TRANSPORTATION
Does ferry’s fate depend on transportation tax vote?
By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff
Published: June 20, 2015 | Updated: June 21, 2015 at 09:32 AM
TAMPA — Fans of a high-speed ferry service have been pressuring Hillsborough County officials to speed up environmental and engineering work so the speedy watercraft can begin zipping across Tampa Bay.
These supporters, who include environmentalists and some conservatives, say they oppose tying county funding for the ferry to a proposed half-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase for transportation projects. The proposed tax will go on the November 2016 ballot if county commissioners approve the measure this fall.
The ferry proponents say waiting until late next year to make decisions on funding the project could endanger a $5.3 million federal grant for the ferry. The grant is contingent on the county providing 20 percent matching funds and spending the money before 2019.
So far, County Administrator Mike Merrill has refused to veer from the county present schedule, which includes a 12- to 18-month environmental and engineering study, followed by a ridership survey that could take three months.
What’s more, Merrill said he’s not likely to recommend funding the ferry unless the sales tax referendum passes. Other transportation and transit projects were given higher priority during the county’s Go Hillsborough public outreach effort, he said.
The ferry service would run between the county’s South Shore and MacDill Air Force Base, catering mostly to MacDill employees. If that route is successful, ferry service could be expanded to link Tampa and St. Petersburg.
“I would never recommend that suddenly we’ll just fund the ferry project ahead of all the other needs identified by Go Hillsborough,” Merrill said. “We spent all this time and the community has said doing roads, bridges and intersections are a top priority. Then suddenly I put in my budget a ferry ahead of all of that?”
In an effort to change Merrill’s mind, attorney and ferry promoter Ed Turanchik has argued that the county could lose future transit grants if it doesn’t follow through on its commitment to the transit grant.
“The county said it was ready to go, ready to provide the match,” said Turanchik, who represents HMS Ferries, one of the partners in the project. “The match was not dependent on passing a tax increase or a ridership study.”
The same arguments were made by US. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, in a June 4 letter to Merrill. Castor reminded the county administrator that she had worked to secure $475,000 in 2009 from the Federal Highway Administration for a feasibility study on the ferry. In 2014, Castor said, she helped get a $4.8 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration for construction work on the ferry terminal.
“Unless the community puts these federal grant dollars to work, it will be more difficult to advocate for greater transportation investments for our community,” Castor wrote in the letter.
Merrill denied that the grant is in danger and said the county has no obligation to fund the ferry.
“We’ve been in regular contact with the feds,” Merrill said. “They are perfectly content with the process we’re taking. They understand in the end, we may not be able to fund the project. All they asked is to keep them apprised how we are doing in the process.”
Merrill said funding for the ferry has always been heavily dependent on the outcome of a proposed sales tax referendum for transportation. Without that infusion of extra cash, the county probably couldn’t justify a big outlay for the ferry, he said.
County Commissioner Ken Hagan told The Tampa Tribune recently that he would try to find money for the ferry if the referendum failed. Commissioner Sandy Murman said her understanding is the county is committed to funding the project with or without the sales tax passing.
“If all the conditions of the ferry are met and the agreement has been fulfilled, whether the referendum passes or not, we will find or identify a funding source to get this ferry going,” Murman said.
But other commissioners have a different understanding. Like Merrill, they said funding is dependent on the ridership survey, which will show whether HMS Ferries can board enough passengers to keep the business afloat.
“I do not think the county should divert funds to (the ferry) in the absence of a half cents sales tax,” said Commissioner Stacy White, who represents parts of south Hillsborough where many of the potential ferry riders live. “I would rather see that $10 million go into road work because we have such a roadwork backlog to take care of.’’
Another skeptic is Al Higginbotham, an at-large commissioner who represents the entire county. Higginbotham said funding the ferry without the sales tax money might mean shorting more important programs, such as Head Start, the early childhood learning program or Aging Services.
“If I was a ferry proponent, I would be looking at ways that I’m on that list of transportation options’’ funded by the tax increase,” Higginbotham said. “They should be looking at that as their best line of revenue.”
The ferry was included in an early list of projects to be funded by a sales tax referendum. A final list of projects will be determined after public meetings are held this summer as part of the county’s Go Hillsborough outreach effort.
