RTD shot down in St. Joseph County

SOUTH BEND | By an overwhelming margin, St. Joseph County voters on Tuesday said no to a proposed regional transportation district and the possibility of a new tax. The margin of defeat was more than 18-to-1, with only 1,053 of 20,693 voters supporting the idea.

"I voted No," Andrea Rutkowski said as she left Riley High School Tuesday afternoon, because I don't think St. Joseph County will really benefit from (the transportation district), at least not enough to justify the extra 0.25 percent tax.

The transportation district, or RTD, received little support heading into the election, and Tuesdays results bore that out.

Voters apparently agreed with opponents of the idea, who argued it would impose an additional tax on county residents but provide little direct benefit to the county itself.

Perhaps because of the threat of that tax, voters turned out in higher numbers than expected, with some polling places, especially those in the townships, even running out of ballots at times.

The outcome pleased local leaders of both the Republican and Democrat parties. Both parties opposed the RTD, with Republicans even erecting billboards, buying radio ads, and creating a Web site to fight it.

Tonight the taxpayers sent a clear and unequivocal message they are taxed enough, said Chris Riley, county Republican Party chair.

Riley said the party was very proud of its efforts in opposing the RTD and contributing to its lopsided defeat.

That margin of defeat did not surprise Butch Morgan, county Democratic Party chair, who said he expected strong opposition to the idea of a transportation district all along.

Tuesdays outcome only proved the RTD was a bipartisan issue for voters, Morgan said.

So this was the one time we had the Democrats and Republicans all rolling in the same direction, he said. Its pretty obvious when you got a vote going that overwhelmingly in one direction.

Ron Cenkush, a vocal opposition organizer, was also pleased with the vote.

A Libertarian, Cenkush went door-to-door in different communities in the county in the weeks leading up the election to urge residents to vote No.

This was a convoluted plan to continually raise taxes for a public transportation system that would have been sparsely used, Cenkush said in a news release, adding that if Indiana residents want public transportation improvements, tax incentives, and not income tax increases, are the solution.

Voters in Porter County to the west also voted against inclusion in the RTD, but by a less substantial margin of about 4-to-1.

Citing costs, officials in Lake and LaPorte counties refused to hold special elections Tuesday.