Posts

MARTA is keeping the gears turning on the gritty behind-the-scenes job of establishing the Atlanta BeltLine and Atlanta Streetcar.

MARTA has shepherded the first tier of a required environmental impact study through to the conclusion of its public comment period. On Monday, MARTA’s board is slated to approve an additional expense to cover the cost of acquiring vehicles for the transit system that is to open in the fall of 2013.

Little in either measure is necessarily exciting. But both are required steps on the long path toward building two transit systems that are expected to reshape the way people travel around the regional core of metro Atlanta.

Atlanta’s largest urban renewal program has received a notation in the city’s most recent fiscal evaluation by a New York bond rating house.

Moody’s Investors Service cited the city’s tax allocation districts as one of four potential causes for the city’s credit rating to be downgraded in the future. The report did not cite an immediate concern in any of the four areas.

The Atlanta City Council is launching its own evaluation of the tax allocation district program, based on a report from the city’s auditor. On July 9, the council’s Finance and Community Development committees are slated to convene a work session for the entire city council, Atlanta Board of Education and Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

The economic outlook in metro Atlanta and Georgia appears to be getting brighter, according to several recent credit ratings issued by bond rating agencies.

None of the ratings say the economy is rosy. Just that the walls have held and things aren’t getting beyond control, as is the case in some other parts of the country.

The latest news came in a June 29 bond rating of $396 million in general obligation for Atlanta. Moody’s Investors Services raised its outlook, citing the city’s financial management and role as the hub of a regional trade and transportation hub.

An interesting insight from the latest WSB-TV poll on the proposed transportation sales tax is that the referendum simply won’t pass unless almost every undecided voter swings to support it.

The opportunity to reach out undecided voters, a segment that polled at 14 percent, improved Friday. Congress approved a federal transportation bill that includes significant transit funding

The federal bill increases the likelihood that the federal government will provide the 12 percent of funds that will be needed to do all the work voters in metro Atlanta have been promised if they approve the 1 percent transportation sales tax.

The clock is ticking on the July 31 election day, when a referendum on metro Atlanta’s first regional transportation sales tax will be on the ballot.

Today is the last day to register to vote in the election. Registrations by mail must be postmarked no later than July 2 to be considered, according to the Georgia Secretary of State. Other important deadlines are listed below.

Meanwhile, the Metro Atlanta Chamber has moved to counter a poll conducted for WSB-TV that showed waning support for the sales tax – especially among voters who reside in counties other than Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Potential homebuyers who plan to use one of Georgia’s down payment assistance programs can earn their qualifying credits at an all-day event Saturday in Atlanta.

These buyers would be locking in prices that are far below their pre-recession peak. Some prices are relative bargains – a quarter of homes sold in the past 12 months were prices at less than $50,000, according to a report this month by Smart Numbers.

Saturday’s event qualifies those who complete it for a certificate now required by the state’s housing agency, the Department of Community Affairs, to apply for housing assistance. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jean Childs Young Middle School, located at 3116 Benjamin E Mays Drive S.W.

Congress is inching closer to a Friday adoption of a federal transportation bill that could give metro Atlanta voters some assurances that they won’t be going it alone in paying for road and transit projects if the transportation sales tax is approved.

Based on a tentative deal reached Wednesday, a two-year federal bill would likely include funds that would help build projects in metro Atlanta. The proposed transportation sales tax envisions the region using proceeds of the sales tax to draw down more federal funds than now is possible.

An insight into the reason a federal transportation bill is crucial to the completion of local projects emerged Monday during a discussion of four federal grants that were addressed in a MARTA committee meeting.