State: Official says private money key element for bullet train

TALLAHASSEE -- Picture a high-speed train with stops in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Orlando, whisking people across Florida. The best part: not a dime of taxpayer money to build it.

That is the vision of State Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, who is using his new clout as chairman of the Senate's Transportation Committee to push a plan to get the private sector to foot the bill for the first segment of the bullet train from Tampa Bay to Orlando.

That segment should be built first, Sebesta said, because tourist attractions such as Walt Disney World and Busch Gardens likely would attract riders, making the project profitable for private investors.

Sebesta has asked the state Department of Transportation to solicit proposals from private companies. If none comes forward, Sebesta said, the Legislature should put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2002 that would explain the cost of the train and ask voters: "Do you feel the same way?"

Fifty-three percent of voters approved an amendment last November to set up a high-speed rail network linking Florida's five largest urban areas. The amendment ordered the state to begin construction of a train that can go up to 120 miles an hour by November 2003.

The train is estimated to cost up to $21.9-billion, and state leaders fear they may have to raise taxes to pay for it. Gov. Jeb Bush put nothing for it in his proposed state budget for 2001-2002.

Sebesta said he has the support of Bush and legislative leaders in pursuing his plan to seek private companies to pick up the tab.

"The governor does think along those same lines," said Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst. "The governor is very interested in seeing the state reach out to the private sector."

However, Senate President John McKay's spokeswoman said McKay hasn't closed the door on other proposals that would involve private investors.

At least one other proposal already is in the works, pushed by C.C. Dockery, the Lakeland businessman who led the successful effort to get the bullet train on the ballot. Dockery has proposed a Florida High Speed Rail Authority that would develop the rail system and pay for it with revenue bonds. Dockery has a powerful ally in the Legislature: His wife, State Rep. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, is on the House Transportation Committee and is chairman of a key budget committee, the House's General Government Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Dockery said Wednesday that she would be surprised if a private group came forward if the state wasn't going to help at all with the bullet train.

"Any time a high-speed project has gone into affect it has taken a public-private partnership," she said. "No private enterprise is willing to say I'm willing to jump in without the state saying we really want this."

Legislation is being drafted in the House that would create an authority that would issue bonds to build the train, she said. The state would repay the debt until the rail system "is up and operational." The state would also spend $50-million to run the authority. She said Sen. John Laurent, R-Bartow, would be sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.

Laurent said he does not think the state should refuse to spend money on the project.

Rep. Dockery agreed, saying, "I think that is a little insulting to the intelligence of the voters" to put another amendment on the ballot.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.