Karen Benker: Finding the dollars to fund Longmont rail – Longmont Times-Call
OPINION
Karen Benker: Finding the dollars to fund Longmont rail
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By KAREN BENKER |November 3, 2021 at 6:38 a.m.
Opportunity is knocking on Longmont’s door.
Our funding opportunities to construct rail from Denver to Longmont have never
been so abundant and promising. What we need now is the leadership, creativity,
perseverance, and teamwork to make things happen.
Finding the revenue to build our FasTracks line has always been the problem
despite Boulder County taxpayers paying over $270 million to RTD. Total
construction costs vary between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
So here is where Longmont can find the money:
- The Colorado Legislature passed SB21-260 this year. It contains new
funding sources over a 10-year period that equals $5 billion.
- The American Rescue Plan sent $380 million to Colorado for transportation
projects.
- The $1 trillion infrastructure bill, passed by the U.S. Senate and pending
in the House, includes almost $100 billion for transit projects including $66
billion for Amtrak.
- Amtrak has a friend in the White House referred to as “Amtrak Joe,” and
the agency has prioritized rail across the Colorado Front Range as one of its
top new construction projects. This $66 billion is the largest investment ever
made in passenger rail.
- The trillion dollar-plus federal budget bill for FY22, currently being
debated by Congress, has substantial funds to fight climate change. There will
be some revenue options to be found here.
- The Front Range Passenger Rail Commission (FRPR) was created this year by
the Colorado Legislature to design, construct and fund a passenger rail system
from Pueblo to Fort Collins and may ask the voters next year for an .8% sales
tax hike. It is likely the route will come through Longmont.
- And then there is RTD. While they claim they cannot find funding to
construct our rail line — breaking faith with Boulder County taxpayers — the
fact is this agency owes our county a large share of the funding needed to
build our line. And they have the funding from strong sales tax growth and
over $700 million from federal stimulus money.
All of these opportunities need to be tapped to build a complete, two-track
line that can carry thousands of passengers each day. And we must demand two
tracks — not a single track that instantly reduces service levels and shuts out
future possibilities. Once we have two tracks, we can quibble about whether we
get peak service or all-day service.
Here’s how to do obtain funding:
- The newly elected mayor takes the lead and forms a Boulder County Rail
Team composed of staff, elected leaders from Boulder County, state legislative
and congressional representatives, and Chamber leaders to bring transportation
resources to Boulder County. The new mayor needs to be pro-active, make deals,
and be ready to offer options.
- Each agency that has transportation resources must be approached and
brought into discussions and asked to put money on the table. This means
negotiating with CDOT, Governor’s Office, RTD, Amtrak, Burlington Northern,
USDOT, and FRPR. Find allies.
- The city needs to hire grant writers to find various funding sources that
could help with the cost (i.e. EPA, cultural district for station art, etc.).
- Longmont needs to hire top-notch state and federal lobbyists to help the
city gain entry into the “inside baseball” of how projects get funded. Our
city does not know how to do this.
Opportunity is knocking. Do we open or close the door? Or do we waste time
sitting around to see if some other entity will swoop down and “save” Longmont?
Let’s shape our own future. Let’s do this.
Karen Benker is a former member of the Longmont City Council and RTD board of
directors. She worked for more than 10 years in the Governor’s Office of State
Planning and Budgeting and was the budget director for the Colorado Department
of Labor and Employment.
