At this week's (September 2017's) County Board Meeting, the resolution on the table was to endorse Vision 2050, a regional transportation plan that included $360 million in annual transportation funding, all of it to fund rail projects in Milwaukee including a massive expansion of the boondoggle trolley system and several light rail projects. Vision 2050 proposed paying for this with a new tax structure, including 6 regional tax increases and a new regional tax based on vehicle miles traveled.
From the floor, I made a motion to amend our resolution. I proposed 1) withholding our endorsement of rail projects, including commuter lines, trolleys, street cars, subways, elevated rail, light rail, rapid transit rail lines, or rail projects by any other name, 2) withholding out approval of Milwaukee public transportation projects unless they were funded by Milwaukee, and 3) withholding our approval of any regional tax. This motion passed unanimously, sending a clear message to Mayor Barrett: "No, we won't fund your boondoggle trolley."
The plan itself was massive, with rail lines, trolleys, anti-vehicle transportation engineering, and loads of other nonsense. The funding part of it was not placed within the plan itself. I had to look for the funding piece, and I am glad I did.
I explain the tax structure Milwaukee proposed in this article: http://district3bossert.blogspot.com/2018/01/understanding-milwaukees-regional-tax.html.
Below is an image from the plan, showing the 7 proposed taxes:
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