A tentative proposal working its way through the state Capitol would give southeast Wisconsin communities a menu of options to finance regional transit operations.

They include sales and hotel room tax hikes, a vehicle registration fee and a membership fee for municipalities. They are in a draft bill that has yet to be formally introduced in the Assembly and Senate.

Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said he’s been told the bill could become ready for introduction by next week, though the process has undergone numerous delays as lawmakers seek a workable compromise.

Gov. Jim Doyle in September called on the Legislature to pass a regional transit bill, aimed at shoring up local bus systems in order to garner federal funding for the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail plan.

Doyle proposed a rough framework, wherein Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties would have an opportunity to phase in an umbrella authority that would oversee all bus and rail transit in the region.

The draft bill that remains in the works would allow communities to do just that, forming local interim authorities that, once considered viable, would be forced into the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority the Legislature created last year to steer commuter rail.

Funding mechanisms

To fund the interim authorities and take bus systems off the property tax levy — a goal of the governor’s — communities could choose from one or more of the following options:

Room tax opposition

Earlier this week, the Racine area tourism bureau made an appeal to the public, denouncing the 8 percent room tax plan.

The bureau, Real Racine, published an electronic newsletter, noting 8 percent hikes would boost Kenosha’s and Racine’s room tax rates above 21 percent, among the highest in the nation.

Transit backers called this a worst-case scenario that is unlikely to occur. Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, deemed Real Racine’s calculation “fuzzy math.”

Lawmakers still working

Wirch said he supports giving local communities the opportunity to choose how to fund transit.

“I think it’s a good compromise,” he said, of the draft bill. “We’ve got to get something done.”

Barca said he believes there are better solutions to fund bus expansions.

Along with other representatives, Barca said he is looking to present other alternatives that reallocate existing funds, rather than tapping new sources, if that proves practical.

“We’re trying to develop something that would be at least more ideal,” Barca said. “Money that is in the transportation network instead of going outside the network would probably make more sense.”