Posted on 12/11/2006 11:13:51 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Texas' gasoline tax has been stuck at 20 cents per gallon since 1991.
Unfortunately, the cost of building new roads and expanding existing ones is no longer anywhere near the levels of 1991.
Fifteen years of inflation have sharply increased the cost of building new highways, as well as expanding and maintaining existing ones. In terms of purchasing power, the 20-cent gas tax is now worth only about 14 cents when adjusted for inflation.
Meanwhile, Texas' need for more roads is greatly expanding because of the population explosion that has occurred over the past 15 years and is expected to continue well into the future.
The Legislature, in its upcoming biennial session beginning Jan. 9, needs to address this sobering reality by substantially increasing the gas tax.
The long-overdue tax hike is vital to addressing crucial transportation needs, especially in Dallas-Fort Worth and other increasingly traffic-choked urban areas; to help offset the ravages of years of inflation; and to avoid an excessive reliance on toll roads.
Don't get us wrong -- toll roads have their place. We support, for example, the concept of using tolls to help finance the Southwest Parkway and the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. But Texans already are signaling their concerns about a potentially excessive reliance on tolls to pay for major new roads and the expansion of existing ones.
An authoritative report, prepared by expert transportation consultants at the request of the Governor's Business Council, recommends that the state gas tax be increased substantially to offset the impact of inflation on both it and the federal gasoline tax, which has stood at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993.
The report suggests that the state gas tax could be raised by 8 cents, to 28 cents, and then adjusted annually for inflation, based on increases in highway construction costs.
The tax would need to be increased by 31 cents, to 51 cents, if no annual adjustments for inflation were made.
The study was done by a consulting team that included David Ellis and Tim Lomax of the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University and consultants Alan Pisarski, Wendell Cox and Jennifer McEwan.
Ideally, Congress also should consider boosting the federal gas tax to compensate for its value being eroded by 13 years of inflation. The more the federal gas tax is increased, the less the state gas tax might have to be raised.
If neither tax is raised, the state will have to rely even more heavily on toll roads. Some major urban projects could be delayed longer, making traffic congestion even worse and increasing the eventual construction costs.
There's an added, less obvious benefit of raising the state gasoline tax: One-fourth of the revenues from it go to public education.
A higher gas tax therefore would support both an improved transportation infrastructure and a stronger education system -- two of the most vital components of ensuring a strong future for Texas.
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, a staunchly conservative Republican from Midland, showed political courage and foresight last year in expressing support for indexing the gas tax to inflation. Other leaders should quickly step forward on this issue to help ensure that adequate funding is available to avert the misery of growing gridlock.
IN THE KNOW
To read the report
Go to www.texasgbc.org/reports.htm and click on this link: Shaping the Competitive Advantage of Texas Metropolitan Regions: The role of Transportation, Housing & Aesthetics
Federal, State and Local Taxing of any energy is parasitic on the economy...
I would suggest letting the local governments and school districts thrash that one out. Maybe they could *GASP* start charging the actual parents an annual fee to educate each kid! Oh, the huge manatee!
bump.
So, if the 5 of 20 cents currently going to schools were restored to highways, the gas tax would only need to be raised by 1 cent and then indexed. The legislature then has to find a way to replace the 5 cents/gallon going to schools.
If I understand correctly, Texas would need another Constitutional amendment to redirect the 5 cents toward roads.
As for the federal gas tax, I would reduce it to 4 cents/gallon, targeted to new interstate projects (I-73, I-74, I-22, I-69, and so on). Then each state could make up the difference as it sees fit. JMNSHO.
For some reason I forgot about the amendment.
What inflation? When it comes to wages it's said that there isn't any inflation. I'm willing to accept that there is no inflaction here either... LMAO
Look, the 21 cents per gallon hasn't risen, but I'll bet there are more gallons sold now. In fact I'd be very surprised if the increased gallons sold didn't outstrip the supposed 14 cent value each gallon is supposed to garner in todays dollars.
There's a big move to move to toll roads across this nation. Not NO, but HELL NO, NO F'N WAY!
Spend the gas tax dollars on roads as they were intended to be and shut the hell up elected officials.
I assume your point is that toll roads are irrelevant to a states economic performance?
Oh.
How come you had to go down to Fla, rated #7 in growth at 2%, while bypassing Nevada and Arizona that were No.s 1 and 2? (growth rates 4.7 and 3.2 percent respectively). None of the top 6 states have toll roads. Florida only has 77 miles of toll on Aligator Alley, so your example was not very good in the first place.
It looks like people don't like toll roads, and the neglect of the free roads in states with them.
And don't forget the basement dwellers. Pennsylvania at #48, home of the famous Pennsylvania turnpike, Ohio at #47 with three toll road systems. New York #44 with four toll systems. And Maine at #42 with, count 'em, 8 toll ways. Wow.
How many years after Texas ties up all all those miles with tolls before they join those states in the basement?
Toll roads *are* a tax. Just collected in a different place, based on a different measure. Allowing a private company to do the collecting is merely money laundering.
You might want to point your conspiracy accusations at yourself. The study you cite (one of many with all kinds of different factors measured that shift the rankings based on what is and isn't included, but whatever) has Florida at #7, which prompted you to go off on your rant. But #3 to #8 have virtually the same growth rates, between 2.3% and 2.0%. Both Florida and Texas are at 2.0%, so I'd say that they are comparable.
But of course percentage growth can be misleading, since a state with a small population only needs to add a small number of persons to have a high percentage rate of growth, while a huge state like Florida (4th, and soon to be 3rd, in population) could add multiple times more residents and yet have a smaller growth rate. Your source ranks based on growth over the last 10 years. I don't have quick numbers for that, but do for the last 5 years, and in that time Nevada added 400,000 persons, while Florida added 1.8 million.
You also don't know your facts on which states have toll roads. Again, if we simply accept your handpicked list for the sake of argument, #3 Colorado has a toll road loop around the Denver area and has been debating a north-south tollway from Ft. Collins to Pueblo running east of the urban areas (very similar to the Trans-Texas Corridor.) #4 Georgia has a tollway in Atlanta and is planning to add toll truck lanes thru the Atlanta area from the northwest to the south. Not sure about #5 Utah, but is the Legacy Hwy going to be tolled? And even if not, Utah isn't a low-tax state. #6 Idaho is relatively tiny.
As to your claim that Florida only has 1 tollroad, Alligator Alley, didn't you consider checking a map before revealing your complete ignorance on the subject? But thanks, it quickly illustrates that everything else you post on this subject is 95% BS. Florida also has the 300-mile FL Turnpike from near Ocala to the southern tip of the Miami area, Miami has 4 other toll roads, as does the Tampa/Lakeland area, and every freeway in Orlando but I-4 is a tollway. All 3 metro areas are in the top 15 in the country for raw growth (not percentage manipulations. My in-laws just moved in with my grandma on her farm, for a 200% population increase from 1 person to 3, should that count as the fastest growth in the country?) In fact in the last 6 years Florida has added more people than currently live in the entire state of Nevada, despite having numerous toll roads for years. You sure you want to claim Florida's economy was "Flattened" due to tollroads?
OBTW, Houston has had several toll roads and is in the top 10 in urban area growth. DFW has had tollways for awhile yet continues to year in and year out be in the top 3 in growth. Your claim that toll roads 'flatten' an economy is laughable.
Nevertheless, it's quite obvious that high growth states do not have extensive toll roads, and the top ranked have none. While the bottom 10 states for growth have a great many toll roads.
And you forgot about all those pay-to-drive Autoroutes in that economic powerhouse, France. I'll take the free Autobahns in Germany any day.
The economic theory of toll roads is their problem. If governments charge a toll on the "good" roads, they provide negative incentive for travel, and *all* travel powers the economy, if only to buy gas, tires, and cars. If private companies operate toll roads, it can only be if they've rigged the game to disallow competition. Roads are natural monopolies, because if two toll roads were to go to the same destination, they would quickly compete until one went out of business. And then a monopoly would exist.
There are *very* few things that government is in the best position to do, and roads is one of them.
Watch the pols carefully, or you'll get what we have here in MA, high gas taxes AND tolls for a highway that should have been paid for years ago!
I have zero financial interest in toll roads other than being a taxpayer. Once again you jumped to the wrong conclusion. All I have is a map and common sense, you might be wise to seek both.
Thanks for the ping!
After you have associated me with a Nazi, and various other insults, perhaps you might be wise to seek a personality.
You may chase away those who seek to educate you because of your general nastyness. But your points are entirely unconvincing, and I will think of you as I avoid toll roads nationwide.
I'm getting tired of FR again.
Such the drama queen. I did no such thing, I was using a simple, ridiculous example to illustrate how silly it is to claim causation between 2 completely unrelated things. My exact statement:
So if you wear pants, does that make you a Nazi (using your silly logic)?
Do you really believe that someone would conclude that you are a Nazi because you wear pants?
But in fact you did initially recognize the point I was making:
I assume your point is that toll roads are irrelevant to a states economic performance?
But now all of a sudden you are tossing on the clothing of victimhood.
I'm getting tired of FR again.
Thank goodness. And I'm getting tired of the the lying, dishonesty, complete ignoring of facts and logic, and spamming of the anti-toll road zealots. And their throwing up anything and everything (including the kitchen sink) just to see what sticks. Such as claiming to have been called a Nazi.
So now I'm a liar, I'm dishonest, and a zealot. Yeah. That's pursuasive that toll roads are a good idea.
FR is such a nice place to carry on an intelligent conversation about the issues. [/sarcasm]
Ohio has only one toll road system, the Ohio Turnpike, and Maine, as far as I know, has one turnpike, although there might be turnpike spurs from the mainline. The Pennsylvania turnpike system consists of a number of toll roads, not just the original turnpike itself.
You're welcome. :-)
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