A SPLOST or a special purpose local-option sales tax is what the State of Georgia is putting to a vote in order to improve their pitiful commute times. I think this is a great idea, primarily because it localizes a normally toxic statewide issue. The situation that comes to mind is what happens in Massachusetts every time funding for an MBTA project is brought up. At those times residents in the Western part of the Commonwealth howl (justifiably I might add) that they have had it with funding transportation projects for Boston and it's suburbs. As a result projects tend to die or not get the proper funding they need.
For years the Green Line Extension Project has been bandied about but has yet to be fully funded. For situations such as this in comes a mechanism like SPLOST, which if localized down to a municipality or a series of municipalities, could make community specific transportation projects easier to fund, and funded by those who would benefit the most. It would properly puts the cost of living in a high density urban environment on the people who live near and benefit from it. Now as a resident of Somerville I would have no problem being assessed an extra 1% on my purchases made within Somerville in order to pay for the project. I'm sure many people in Somerville, Cambridge & Medford (not to mention other North Shore towns and I-93 Commuters) would feel the same way.
I do not know the specifics of how or if you could pass something of this nature in Massachusetts but I think localized tax vehicles are a serious option in attempting to rectify the growing infrastructure spending deficit in this country.
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