Guest view: Combining RTA, other public transit boards would be disservice to McHenry County taxpayers

The Illinois General Assembly has legislation pending that, if approved, would consolidate the four transit boards (RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace) into one single board. Why should suburban tax payers be very concerned about this pending legislation? If approved in its present form, collar county board chairs will lose two of their three appointments to the current transit boards, putting the collar counties in a minority voting position on the proposed single board, thus diminishing McHenry County’s voice on transit issues in the region. McHenry County must maintain our three appointments to the boards and the boards must maintain their supermajority voting power.

The CTA carries $6.9 billion in debt. Compared to Metra’s $312 million debt and Pace’s $138 million debt, CTA’s debt is significant. With the proposed legislation collar counties such as McHenry County, could see their tax dollars diverted to cover CTA’s multibillion-dollar debt, operating costs and infrastructure cash flow needs.

There has been no data provided on the cost savings of combining the RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace. The agencies have different federal regulatory agencies – Metra through the Federal Railroad Administration and the CTA and Pace through the Federal Transit Administration. Each has different rules and regulations. Furthermore, each agency has separate and multiple labor contracts that would be difficult and costly to consolidate.

Giving more oversight to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) rather than consolidating the transit boards will improve project coordination, streamline funding and ensure that collar counties are fairly represented. Collar county representation will guarantee collar county tax dollars will not be diverted to cover CTA’s $6.9 billion debt, operating costs and infrastructure cash flow needs.

Any suburban legislator (Democrat or Republican) that votes to consolidate the transit boards and then votes to raise taxes to support transit will be voting against the interest of the residents that they have been elected to represent. Please join us in opposing the legislation that would consolidate the four transit boards into a single board and support legislation that empowers the RTA while maintaining local representation.

Michael Buehler is the McHenry County Board chair; Rick Mack is the president of the village of Ringwood and the McHenry County Council of Governments.