Replies

I am an elected official, a County Commissioner in Fort Bend County (Southwest of Houston). I have to face the voters every four years.

Fort Bend County has a severe traffic problem due to our rapid growth. Currently, to address this problem, I have two choices given the federal and state funding for new roads, or rather the lack thereof. One – vote to raise everyone’s taxes and fund the roads that way. This entails using government powers to forcibly take money from taxpayers who do not want to give it up voluntarily and spend it on projects that many will not benefit from. Or, two – build a toll road and exact a toll from those who use the facility, thereby giving the individual the option of paying or not paying the “tax” depending on whether or not they use and benefit directly from the toll road.

Frankly, I prefer doing the latter.

"I am an elected official, a County Commissioner in Fort Bend County (Southwest of Houston). I have to face the voters every four years."

(sorry about the late response, I took off to work just before you post was up)

Thanks Mr. Meyers for identifying yourself, I took a pretty big chance in "outing" you as an insider on a single word (facility). Anyway, given your constraints, and the fact to do have to answer to voters that want solutions, supporting toll roads like the FB does make some sense to me.

The problem is that when everyone in your position, throughout the state, does the same, then we end up giving the state politicians an easy out. Why raise the gas tax to build freeways when counties like Harris and Fort Bend will tax (I mean toll) themselves?

To me, when Harris County went with its toll road system, that was, politically, the end of new freeways for state. Given that FB County didn't really start to boom until after Harris County had effectively killed the gas tax, you guys didn't have a choice.

As you said yesterday:
"I am unaware of any local or state official who proposes to “toll” existing free roads."

You do owe it to the people here to admit that is exactly what was attempted on SH 249, and very close to what's happening in Austin where they're putting up toll booths on fully financed and nearly completed freeway sections.