Bowing to reality that new regionwide dedicated funding for Metro is unlikely to pass during this winter’s General Assembly sessions, a key panel of the region’s elected officials now backs a one-year funding patch to cover significant repairs needed to prevent the rail system from falling apart further.
The lukewarm endorsement of something like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s suggestion that D.C., Maryland, Virginia and the federal government each contribute $125 million more per year requires a promise that some type of dedicated, recurring and bondable funding would be identified and acted on in the legislative sessions that begin in January 2019.
Without a temporary patch, Arlington County and Metro Board member Christian Dorsey said the county would have to cut spending in other areas or significantly raise its own tax rates. And without a long-term dedicated tax, Dorsey suggested that General Manager Paul Wiedefeld might leave.
“There’s no possible way he can deliver what he has articulated the agency needs to deliver without getting permanent dedicated funding. And I can’t imagine under any circumstance if that became an impossibility that he would find this to be something that he would want to continue to lead,” Dorsey said.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Max Smith over at WTOP