The road to mass-transit service for Payson, Salem and Mapleton still goes through Spanish Fork.
On Tuesday, voters in those four cities, as well as in Provo Canyon, must decide whether to increase their local sales tax by 0.25 percent - or an additional quarter on a $100 purchase - to be annexed into the Utah Transit Authority Transit District.In addition to the tax levy and a majority vote by residents, service in Payson and Mapleton also hinges on approval by Spanish Fork residents, while Salem routes require majority approval in both Payson and Spanish Fork.
"It's a matter of economics," said Bill Oswald, UTA's legal counsel. "There's simply not enough sales-tax revenue coming from the other cities for us to afford service to them without Spanish Fork."
Ninety-three percent of the sales-tax proceeds to fund the south-county UTA service would come from Spanish Fork and Payson - and more than $300,000 of that approximately $470,000 would come from Spanish Fork, said Kip Billings, UTA's Utah County service planner.
UTA officials held four separate transit-planning meetings to receive input from area residents as well as inform them about the proposed tax increase. Out of those meetings, Billings devised extensions of current UTA routes that would give the cities 88 daily trips and 37 trips on weekends.
Those route modifications would include three daily trips extending the Springville-Provo-Salt Lake commuter express to Salt Lake, 25 daily and 17 weekend trips extending the east Orem-south Provo Route 2 to Mapleton, 34 daily trips on the College Connector in Spanish Fork, and 24 daily and a dozen weekend trips extending the Springville Route 12 that runs through Provo and Orem to Payson, Salem and Spanish Fork. A new route would provide two daily express trips to Salt Lake City for Spanish Fork, Salem and Payson patrons.
Fares would be 75 cents for normal routes between the cities and Provo and Orem. Premium fares - those for the commuter express routes to Salt Lake City - would be $1.70. Senior citizen fares would be 35 cents, and UTA would offer monthly passes.
Two years ago, Spanish Fork voters turned down a ballot proposal that would have imposed a similar sales-tax increase by nearly 2-1. That proposal would have allowed the city to either turn that money to UTA or to create its own mass-transit system, similar to one operating in Logan. Four years ago, the Spanish Fork City Council flatly turned down proposals from UTA officials.
However, this time the city would be locked in to UTA. Spanish Fork Mayor Marie Huff, who said she originally opposed UTA annexations, investigated various mass-transit proposals - including taking a close look at the bus system in Logan - and now is in favor of the annexation.
Similarly, members of most of the other city councils say they support the proposal.
If the proposal passes, service on most of the routes could begin as soon as January. Also, UTA directors say they are open to modifying service three times a year, based on public input and observed performance of the service.
The Provo Canyon service, which would primarily serve the Sundance resort, would not be contingent on Spanish Fork's approval, but officials must make major improvements to the access road - including widening it, providing a proper turnaround and ensuring adequate parking for patrons - before buses could operate there. Also, the resort would also have to help purchase special buses necessary to travel the canyon in winter.