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Finance Follow-up
During yesterday’s remarkable address at the Lone Star Legislative Summit — after Phillip Russell said there would likely be no superhighway in East Texas — a surprisingly unfazed audience asked about railroads and fuel prices, shedding some light on another huge issue lurking in the background of the whole state transportation issue.
TxDOT is running out of money, can no longer depend on federal financing, and should probably start tolling roads, said a series of independent financial audits presented to the agency last summer.
This audit finds that despite the availability of new funding mechanisms, there are fundamental weaknesses in transportation finance.
TxDOT has also apparently learned from a federal report released earlier this month that says the U.S. transportation system
…is in a physical and financial crisis because current revenue is insufficient to maintain and improve this country’s highways, public transportation systems and intermodal connectors.
Recommendations from that report, available in an easy-to-read release here and on the TxDOT Web site, include raising the fuel tax and tolling roads more heavily.
No surprise, then, that this is exactly what Phillip Russell suggested during his talk yesterday. He said the gas tax has been static since 1991 and does not increase as gas prices increase. He also pointed out that TxDOT only receives a percentage of the tax, since part of it is funneled into other programs. Plus, increased vehicle efficiency in the past few years has reduced the amount of gas consumed, weakening the solvency of the gas tax. Something needs to change. Russell said:
The gas tax probably does need to be increased a little bit … From a TxDOT viewpoint — whatever the legislature — whatever tools they give us — we’re gonna utilize. If it’s a gas tax, were gonna use it. If it’s Trans Texas corridor, we’re gonna use it.
And the amount of fuel tax increase Russell’s talking about? About a dollar per gallon.
I’m curious what sits better with readers: paying a dollar extra per gallon, or paying to drive on new roads? From the data and reports, it seems like we’re soon in store for either a tax hike or toll roads — or both.
UPDATE: All of this comes as Reuters is reporting a new probe into TxDOT accounting practices. According to the article, The Texas legislature has
asked the auditor to probe included forecasts for higher maintenance costs that do not “seem to show a complete and accurate financial picture.”
Comments
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By lnranger1
February 22, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
tx.dot needs to be more efficient,stop making the contractors rich.start using the taxes we already pay, on the roads and hwys.and stop using them on pet projects.i realize the taxes might need to be raised a little but a dollar a gallon is ridiculous!