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Hol Wagner

Colorado Highways: Maybe Next Year
May 6, 2008

Colorado has joined the growing number of states that have thrown up their hands and said, “We can’t find a solution to the highway funding problem this year – it’s not the right time – so we’ll do something about it next year.”

            The sole highway funding bill before the Colorado Legislature in its final week, Senate Bill 244 by Sen. Able Tapia (D-Pueblo), would have raised vehicle registration fees and added a daily fee on rental cars. After being debated and amended to effectively reduce its “take” by half, the bill was withdrawn by its sponsor shortly before it was to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The legislature, controlled by the Democratic party, adjourns for the year on May 7 with absolutely nothing accomplished toward providing critically needed transportation funding – even though the Democratic governor’s own blue ribbon task force said an increase of $1.5 billion a year is needed to adequately address the worsening situation. Facing reality, however, the task force recommended an annual increase of $500 million, and the governor announced his support of that level of increased funding. For all the good it did.

            Now, SB-244 sponsor Sen. Tapia and others say they will continue to work on transportation funding legislation over the summer for consideration by the 2009 session. This may ultimately be a good thing, as there is little agreement as to the proper source(s) of the additional funding, and if some agreement is not reached by those in the legislature with some influence over such matters, there never will be agreement and the wheel spinning will go on and on. Then, in 2009, with the presidential election behind us, maybe something positive will be accomplished. In the meantime, the Colorado Department of Transportation’s fiscal 2009 budget, for the year beginning July 1, 2008, will reflect a 20 percent decline over current year funding.

The Arizona Outlook

            In Arizona, the situation is similar, though the legislature never got as far with specific bills to raise funding. After the legislators finally agreed on a plan to eliminate a huge budget shortfall this year – a plan that includes a $42-million cut in highway funding – the Arizona Department of Transportation released a new report showing that most of the state will run out of highway money entirely by 2015 unless something is done soon. 

            Gov. Janet Napolitano subsequently endorsed a proposal by a group of business and economic development leaders, dubbed the TIME Coalition (for Transportation and Infrastructure Moving AZ’s Economy), that would increase the state sales tax by 1 cent – if voters approve – to provide an estimated $42.6 billion over 30 years.

            Enough signatures must first be gathered to get the measure on the November ballot. And even if that happens, there is already considerable opposition to using the sales tax to finance roads. Said the Tucson Citizen in a recent editorial: “We need a comprehensive plan to increase revenues for roads and transportation systems, including light rail in Tucson and Phoenix and commuter rail between the two cities. The plan simply should not rely on one source, the sales tax. More appropriately, it should be based on taxing people directly for their use of the state’s roads and transportation systems. That means motorists who pay fuel taxes, tolls and license fees.”

Posted by Hol Wagner on May 6, 2008 | Comments (0)