Friday, February 22, 2008
Editorial: Back in the hole on transportation
A slowing economy erodes all the funding gains made by last year's compromise legislation.
From the RoundTable blog
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Remember last year's hard-won transportation compromise that was supposed to provide the state with enough money to maintain roads and keep up with increasing traffic demands?
Thanks to the declining economy, Virginia is back in the same hole as before. Without the transportation bill, that hole would have been even deeper, but the fact remains that when it comes to fixing transportation, it's as if the General Assembly never left the garage.
The latest forecasts estimate the state will receive $1.1 billion less in transportation revenue over the next six years than originally expected.
"This is a very serious and troubling financial situation," state Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer told the Commonwealth Transportation Board earlier this week.
It gets worse. Lawmakers are subjecting the transportation bill to a death of a thousand cuts.
The abusive driver fees and the $65 million in revenue they were supposed to bring in are gone.
The General Assembly is considering several bills to exempt tow truck companies, utilities and others from paying various regional transportation taxes allowed by last year's plan.
Localities will take the biggest hit from the looming shortfall. State law governs transportation spending priorities. Loan payments, maintenance and contributing to the state's share of federally financed projects all take precedence over local projects.
Reta Busher, chief financial officer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that funding for local streets and highway construction will be reduced by 44 percent.
The state is also facing a shortfall in maintenance funds that the Senate wants to address through a 5-cent gas-tax increase. Gov. Tim Kaine warned senators, though, that House Republicans adamantly oppose any tax increase.
Virginia's transportation system needs a fresh infusion of revenue. Last year's plan cobbled together revenue from a variety of small sources and tapped surplus funds that have since evaporated.
What the commonwealth needs are broad-based, stable sources of revenue for roads.
That apparently won't happen until current House leadership is replaced by representatives less allergic to tax hikes.
