Posted on 11/09/2019 2:00:18 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
For more than 25 years, the Federal government has let the Highway Trust Fund, the source of money for Federal infrastructure projects, lose it's purchasing power. That's because the gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel fuel since 1993.
While construction costs have increased 125% since 2003, funding has not. Instead of waiting for Washington to get it together, states have taken it upon themselves to fund their own infrastructure projects. Since 2013, 31 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation that will increase or may increase overall state gas taxes. However, passing a gas tax increase is not an easy task, and even states that have done it successfully are finding they still don't have enough money to pay for the projects they need done.
South Carolina is just one example. In 2017, it passed a 12-cent per gallon gas tax increase which was less than what was initially proposed but a compromise to get the legislation passed. Legislators were warned when they passed the 2017 compromise, the first increase in 30 years, that the 12-cents per gallon hike and other vehicle fees weren’t enough to fix the state’s entire road system, the nation’s fourth largest, and they are now realizing that was true.
A Senate panel has now been created to explore how to step up widening projects on the worst stretches of congestion, potentially sparking another years-long debate over road funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at forconstructionpros.com ...
California democrats have stolen every dime of the gas tax money.
Maybe not redirecting it to other uses would help.
Prevailing Wage Rate Example
The Total Hourly Rate for a Laborer classification for Group 1 in Los Angeles County as determined by the Director in February of 2017 is $52.08 per hour straight time, $68.25 per hour overtime, and $84.42 per hour Sunday, Holidays and double time.
***********************************************
So what is the hourly rate for standing around looking puzzled or waiting around for someone to come and tell them what to do next. Such “laying about” is what I typically see road construction crews doing as I drive past them.
Eventually, we may need to resurrect the old Roman practice of decimation on our elected officials.
At least then we’d have a 1 in 10 chance of getting the guilty ones.
“States Find Gas Tax Increases Still Not Paying for Infrastructure Funding”
That’s because the stinking bastards are using it for everything else under the sun. Bike lanes, nature trails, maybe some corrupt mediocre road contracts to insiders etc.
Colorado demonicrats have been on a bike path binge.
Its because these states collect gas taxes under the guise they will pay for roads and bridge upkeep, yet they dump that money into their general funds accounts and piss it away on social programs.
Its what they do where i live except the last 8 years of Walker. since we have a hardcore bolshevik in now we’ll be returning to that crap again.
No, they wouldn’t. Did you not read the basics of this article? Taxes have been flat for 25+ years, costs haven’t been, and cars get better mileage.
“...the nation’s fourth largest,...”
South Carolina?
It would pay if they weren’t diverting the bulk of it for other things.
and bike paths/trails/bike lanes
But, we need bike/skate board lanes!
They exist too!
/S
/$ is closer to the truth
The item I've highlighted above is the biggest problem South Carolina is facing.
South Carolina is ranked #23 among U.S. states by population, and #40 by land area. If they rank #4 in roadway miles, then either the state has more roads than they need or the state DOT is responsible for a lot of roads that should come under local or county jurisdiction.
If the corrupt politicians kept their fingers out of the pot, we would be driving on streets of gold!
Surprise, surprise.
Big surprise. THey always do this. The money is allocated for specific purposes, but they steal it and use it as a slush fund for their agendas.
This is why our military was in dire straits. Big military $$$ yet our military lacked bullets!
That’s poverty there. In Florida that’d be awesome!
SCDOT does a horrible job with the roads in this state.
There’s no way in Hell SC has the 4th largest road system.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.