A temporary local transit authority wants the state Legislature to make it a permanent body with the power to enact a sales tax increase to fund public transportation.

If approved, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority could up the sales tax as much as half a cent in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties. The group would also operate all existing public transit in the three counties, such as buses, as well as any future projects, like the proposed commuter rail line linking Kenosha to Milwaukee.

RTA Chairman Karl Ostby said Walker’s objection is based on a position of no tax increases of any kind.

The current RTA was required by the law that created it to submit a report to the governor and Legislature by Nov. 15. The recommendations approved Monday fulfill that requirement.

To become law, the RTA would need to be included in the next state budget, said Ostby, who represents Kenosha County on the RTA board.

Any sales tax would be levied on a county-by-county basis and would not have to be the same in each county, Ostby said.

“Here in Kenosha I would envision a 0.2- or 0.3-cent rate,” Ostby said, while Milwaukee would likely need to levy the full 0.5.

Len Brandrup, director of Kenosha Area Transit and city representative at Monday’s meeting, said taxes for the authority will remain in the county where they were raised. A countywide plan would also allow for recommendations and suggestions for all possible county transit services, Brandrup said.

“It essentially allows us, as a community, to say what we want the transit system to be,” Brandrup said.

If implemented, the sales tax would take over any local funding of transit, be it buses, rail or other systems. Advocates for the RTA plan say it will have the effect of taking transit funding off of local property tax bills.

“I especially like that so many people from Illinois pay our sales tax,” Ostby said.

The sales tax also could be used to fund extension of commuter rail service from Kenosha to Milwaukee, dubbed the KRM. If enacted at the full 0.5-cent for all three counties, the tax could raise from $13 million to $15 million a year, estimated Ken Yunker of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, which is acting as staff for the current RTA. Only a small portion of the sales tax would actually need to go toward KRM.

Todd Battle, executive director of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, favors the regional approach and the KRM.

“Putting Kenosha in the middle of these two major metro areas (Chicago and Milwaukee) could do nothing but benefit Kenosha,” Battle said.

A previous effort to fund just the KRM rail line through an increase in a car rental tax failed to win legislative approval.

If the RTA becomes reality, individual municipalities would likely eventually get out of running transit systems. A regional system would be an improvement over the current transit arrangements in southeastern Wisconsin, Brandrup said.

“With a regional system, we’re able to layer regional connections much more easily politically,” Brandrup said. “You don’t have impediments between ownership or financing getting in the way of the ability to operate.”