On September 26, 2016, the Atlanta BeltLine held its 3rd quarterly briefing of the year. The meeting took place at Park Tavern and featured a variety of presentations that covered updates on construction progress, programs, and included information on the MARTA and the Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) referenda. Ben Limmer, Assistant General Manager at MARTA, outlined the sales tax referendum that voters will have the opportunity to see on the ballot November 8. The MARTA sales tax is a proposed half-penny sales tax that could generate $2.5 billion for high-capacity projects over 40 years. More information about the proposed tax can be found on moremarta.com.
Tom Weyandt, former Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the City of Atlanta, presented on behalf of the City to summarize the projects that the TSPLOST could fund. This tax, a separate sales tax from the MARTA tax, is a propsed 4/10 cent tax that could raise $300 million for transportation projects. The City’s project list includes $66 million for the Atlanta BeltLine. A summary of the TSPLOST can be found on the City’s wesbsite.
The quarterly briefing presentation also included updates from Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. on etiquette, Art on the Atlanta BeltLine, Westside Trail and Eastside Trail extension construction, Southside Trail design, and the federal process for transit route selection.
Finally, the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership (ABP) provided updates on programming, including a $500,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente for health programming in communities along the Westside Trail. ABP is also working with Home Place Consulting to provide homeowner workshops to help residents take advantage of available resources to stay in their homes, or to evaluate opportunities if they are considering selling.
Missed this Quarterly Briefing? You can view this presentation and past presentations here. You can also follow the Atlanta BeltLine Facebook page for a live feed from QB meetings. The next meeting will be held in early December, so stay tuned!
