Sales Tax

In an effort to give themselves more time to pay for it, transit officials in Charlotte may delay an 11-mile light rail extension for six years.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a bill that will bring about $31 billion worth of road, transit and school construction projects.

Votes in the Charlotte area are considering another raise to their sales tax to fund transit projects. New documents show the tax increase may not bring the improvements quickly. But without the raise, some projects may never get built.

As commercial vacancies increase, cities are feeling the pain of lower tax revenues.

Drops in tourism and luxury car sales are among the reasons why the ritziest cities in Southern California are not impervious to the recession.

In metropolitan Kansas City, two sales tax initiatives on the ballot in efforts to raise money for the region's long-planned light rail system.

After being signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a half-cent sales tax increase will appear on the November ballot in Los Angeles County, where it would create a fund for public transit projects.

After more than three hours of public comment and debate at Thursday's MTA Board meeting, the Board of Directors approved placing a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot, pending approval of a companion Assembly bill.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's half-cent increase in the county's sales tax would create $30-$40 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years, and could go before voters in November.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has proposed a plan to raise sales taxes in the state to help fund public transportation projects -- a plan similar to one voters turned down in 2002. But this time, voters won't be involved in the decision.

Five counties in metropolitan Minneapolis have approved the creation of a new quarter-cent sales tax that will be dedicated to funding transit projects.