Metromover funding

Re the April 13 article, Free ride or fee? Leader wants voters to decide: The best way to fund Metromover operations is to create a special taxing district for all properties within a half mile from a Metromover station.

It is clear that the primary benefit of Metromover is for those who live, work or shop within walking distance of Metromover stations.

It isn’t fair for someone from Northwest or Southwest Miami-Dade to be subsidizing this premium service for downtown and Brickell residents when there is no comparable service for them.

Special taxing districts are often used to fairly apportion services for only part of a community such as streetlights. It is reasonable that those that benefit from those services pay for them.

Does anyone think that downtown property owners could not get a fair return on their investments if they had to pay slightly higher property taxes?

In most cases the increased fare would be less than the cost of collecting the revenue, particularly when the cost of security to enforce the fare and the capital cost of the fare collecting machinery is considered.

I’m sure that was true when the fare was 25 cents.

Finally, making public transportation more expensive and inconvenient makes it less attractive, encouraging people to use their cars. Note that government offices, schools, and government housing do not pay property tax and so would not be adversely affected.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Metromover funding."