Editor,
Any proposal for a “public trolley” operating on the Hollister Branch Line is like getting into line at Rev. Jim Jones Koolaide stand after seeing those ahead of you dropping dead.
Asking SBC’s taxpayers to get $50 million to upgrade the track to passenger carrying standards of the Federal Railroad Administration is asking for $50 times 9.09, which equals $454.5 million of new taxes from San Benito County’s taxpayers.
The reason for the escalation is the abysmal, minimal 11 cents for each dollar of tax being returned to the county. In fact, it may no longer be as much as 11 cents/dollar because the date I’m quoting from the Department of Finance is going on 10 years.
The way Sacramento rips off the rural counties to bestow unbelievable subsidies on the big cities (LA, SF, SJ, etc.), I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that we are now receiving less of our tax dollars back than what DOF shows on its Web site.
After paying for track improvements for the proposed “trolley follies,” we would then be required to pay the operating subsidies, probably greater than the subsidies we pay for COG’s county transit. A better idea would be to buy each rider their own Mercedes or BMW or Lexus; it would be cheaper on the taxpayers.
Better yet, hire taxis and shuttles from private sector operators to transport “trolley follies” riders. That would be even cheaper for taxpayers. We have too many tax-dependent boondoggles already; more than we can justify, or afford.
Adding more public sector transit boondoggles will just kill off more small and very small business owners. Or is the goal: Trolley Follies at a Ghost town? Let’s be real, people. Caveat Viator!
Joe Thompson, Tres Pinos
