Help wanted: Sound transportation policy

East Texas Review ^ | August 29, 2007 | William Lutz

[wolfcreek]

“Do they have the authority to tax?”

LOL! Tolls?

[Ben Ficklin]

Why is it that socialists can't distinguish between user fees and taxes?

Anyhow, NVTA has the authority, confirmed by a judge, to tax and toll.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

If you pay a toll, and a certain part of that toll goes to other, free roads, that portion is effectively a tax on your driving. You may find that arrangement useful, but that doesn’t change the tax aspect of it.

[Ben Ficklin]

But you are not forced to pay the toll, as you would be with a gas tax.

[TXnMA]

"The state legislature has stolen uncountable sums of road tax money, yet you say that they will save us from the evil engineers at TxDot.

LOL!!! Far be it from me to say that the TX Legislature will do anything -- beyond getting more crooked and less competent! '-)

FYI, it is the bureaucratic leadership of TXDOT that I see as evil -- not the engineers...

[Ben Ficklin]

The Texas legislators are very alarmed with the situation. If the private investors make deals directly with the state agency or the regional authority, the legislature gets cut out and loses their chance to pilfer the money. In the case of the NVTA, the regional authority gets the private money AND the tax money directly, bypassing the legislature on both sources of money.

Some in the US Congress have become alarmed over this also because they are now realizing that the PPPs cut them out of the loop also. Democrats Oberstar and DeFazio, who have leadership positions, recently wrote a letter to all the states' governors and legislatures warning of "repercussions" over the PPPs. This caused an uproar in the transportation industry and they backed off, acknowledging a need for both private money and public money. They are backing the 5 cent increase in federal gas taxes. That is a 27% increase.