Mayor Reed Calls for Transportation Tax Support

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in a talk to the Rotary Club of Buckhead Monday listed his administration's accomplishments and pointed toward the future.

He called for the Rotarians' help in supporting the 1-cent transportation tax in a July 31 referendum, calling it the most most important "initiative in our region for the next 10 years."

In leveraging federal money, the tax will raise $9 billion for the region's transportation system, "$900 million every single year for 10 years," he said.

Saying, "I don't view Buckhead as a bank; I never have and I neve will," Reed said the passage of the tax is vital, repeating the supporters' message "there really is no Plan B." The referendum will bring improve the region's transporation for 10 to 30 years, he said.

In answer to a question, Reed said the city of Atlanta is in pretty good shape in having a suffiicient water supply. He said the city owns the Dawson Creek property, which is suitable for building a reservoir, and that the city would act in concert with the state on water issues.

"There's no excuse for Atlanta to have a water problem," Reed said, pointing out that Atlanta receives 50 inches of rain a year, while Phoenix receives 10. "It's a problem of will and getting at it." He said a reservoir at Dawson Creek could give the city adequate water for 75 years.

In response to another question, Reed said the city is making progress on redeveloping Fort McPherson which will have "a tremendous impact on the whole city." He said Forest City and Cousins Properties are woking on the redevelopment, and that through the city's connections with the Obama administration, no upfront capital will be required. He said that the city will sell the property's assets as they are developed and pay the U.S. Army along the way.

The administration's accomplishments he cited included increasing the city's surplus to $94 million, accomplishing pension reform, increasing the number of officers on the policd force and reducing the crime rate. He said city has fewer than 90 murders last year, the lowest number since the Lyndon Johnson adminisgtration.

He said the city has been able to balance the budget despite lower property tax revenues by reducing the number of city employees and "focusing on core services, the thinkgs that people need."