Senate passes MARTA funding bills - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

http://www.pslogos.com/archive/january/lumedia.html
The bill, which passed would lift a curren restriction in state law that limits MARTA to spendingf no more than 55 percent of its salew taxes onoperating expenses. The rest of the mone y has to go towardcapital costs. The formulq mandating that split between operating and capital spendinv has been around sincethe system’as inception and has “outlived its usefulness,” said Sen. Doug D-Smyrna, the bill’s chief sponsor. “It was designed for an era that nolonged exists,” he said. MARTA officials are looking for ways to expancthe system’s operating funds to help cover a projected $60 millionm to $70 million shortfall.
Stoner said his legislatiomn would aid that cause while stayingwithin MARTA’sx existing revenues. Also Tuesday, senators voted 43-4 in favor of a seconsd bill that would allow MARTA to sell food and drinkxs atits stations. The proposal could generate several millionm dollarsa year, MARTA General Manager and CEO Beverlt Scott said last week. Both bills now go the