Officials say the first phase of the project would cost $40 billion dollars paid for by a nearly $10 billion dollar bond on the November ballot plus possible federal and private funding. That analysis was met with unkind words from supervisors.
Steven Worthley, Tulare Co. Supervisor: "It's not fair to the public to use those numbers unless you've had a recent economic analysis to really give us some hard numbers. I think that is way off the mark and I think it's disingenuous."
Mike Ennis, Tulare Co. Supervisor: "You're gonna go out and ask the voters to go deeper in debt when we can't even get a water bond passed, which we desperately need."
The City of Visalia disagrees with supervisors and has even offered this land west of the Visalia airport for a high speed rail station. Rail officials say they understand the board's concerns but believe the high speed rail is the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving public transportation up and down the state.
Eric Vonberg, HSR: "It's an electric driven project and we can provide a fast reliable transportation other than the automobile."
High Speed Rail officials hope to come back to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors with a more detailed financial analysis of the plan by November. If the bond passes in November, officials hope to begin construction on the high speed rail within three years.
