Posted on 03/28/2019 10:43:11 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has a mountain of borrowed money on hand for “Roads to Prosperity” highways projects.
Should a slice of that money be diverted to fix bumpy, bouncy secondary roads?
West Virginia went to market with $800 million in bonds last May. Because of advantageous interest rates, the state actually wound up with bonds valued at $915 million.
Since then, very little has been used.
According to documents available through the state Auditor’s Office, only $11,133,309.19 had been spent as of earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the money in reserve generated $13,666,081.46 in interest. So what’s been spent roughly equals the interest.
At the same time, an outcry has come from counties where the condition of secondary roads has become alarming. Preston County, for example, has declared an emergency because roads have gotten so bad.
But leaders in the counties with the worst road problems are already issuing strong warnings about diverting the bond money.
“I am adamantly opposed to taking funds from the road bond and putting it on secondary. We didn’t vote for that. The money is available from other avenues,” said Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom.
“You do that, citizens of Monongalia County will never vote for another road bond issue.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wvmetronews.com ...
They've never had a government that saved money because, uhm, thrift is bad.
The proles won't give us money if we don't spend it all and plead poverty.
Anyone from West Virginia remember this: “Bumpity-bump”?
Potholes in WV are really bad. Coming off the “Gunner” Gatski bridge from Ohio to Huntington a few years ago I clipped a stealth pothole coming down the off ramp, popped the tire, dented the wheel beyond repair and bent a sway bar.
I’ve since moved to NC, but learned the Ex had a pothole incident a while back, sued the state, claimed an injury and walked away with a fat payout well beyond the price of repairs (she gloated on Social Media). The state maintains a “pothole” fund for that purpose - who knew? Fixing the pot holes might be cheaper than the payouts to the ambulance chasers.
Maybe they should start with indoor plumbing. /kidding
Just don’t tell anyone that we use the potholes and road slides as deterrents to invading liberals. Everyone knows that to get to (almost Heaven) you have to travel a bumpy road. At the end the journey is worth it. Shhhh.
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