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Virginia's transportation funding shortfall
The House of Delegates must support SB 713 and address the Commonwealth's eroding gas tax
The Virginia Senate voted last week to pass SB 713, which will increase the Commonwealth's gas tax by one cent per year for the next five fiscal years starting July 1, 2008.
The Senate bill was approved 25 to 15 and if passed by the House of Delegates, the Commonwealth's gas tax will raise an additional $52 million a year for transportation. This would replace funding lost by a repeal of the "abuser fees" and provide much-needed highway maintenance funding.
Maintenance costs are a huge factor in the Commonwealth's transportation funding shortfall. In recent years, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has had to pull hundreds of millions of dollars from its road construction budget to fund maintenance projects. And, this year, due to excess maintenance funding needed, approximately $260 million will be diverted from the Transportation (Construction) Trust Fund to pay for maintenance. This neutralizes HB 3202's authorization of $300 million per year in new statewide bonds, pulling funding away from other much-needed projects.
According to Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), the one-cent gas tax increase will only cost the average family the equivalent of "two Big Mac meals a year." However, the bill now faces a vote by the House of Delegates who earlier this session rejected a separate proposal to raise the gas tax by five cents. With the third largest state-maintained highway system in the U.S. (68,000 miles of roadway) and the ninth lowest gas tax in the nation at 17.5 cents/gallon, Virginia cannot afford to let this legislation get voted down by the House.
VBT would like to encourage you to contact your representative in the House of Delegates to urge them to support SB 713.
For information about how to contact your legislator, click here.
For information about the transportation funding shortfall, click here.
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Gas Tax Facts
- Virginia's gas tax has not been raised since Jan. 1, 1986 and annual inflation has eroded its purchasing power by more than 40 percent.
- The gas tax is paid by both in-state and out-of-state drivers.
- A minimal one-cent increase in the statewide gas tax would only cost the average driver a mere 50 cents a month.
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Gas tax increase will help fund maintenance needs
In 1986 former Governor Gerald Baliles persuaded the General Assembly to increase the gas tax to 17.5 cents during a special session to raise transportation funding to meet state needs. The gas tax has not been increased since.
Twenty-two years later, our transportation needs are at a point that an infusion of new money is needed to help the Commonwealth's ailing system.
With the Senate's recent approval of SB 713, the Commonwealth is now taking some much-needed steps toward raising its gas tax. As stated in an editorial in the Lynchburg News & Advance, "the gas tax, after all, is the ultimate in user fees."
Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw told his Senate colleagues, "I wish that we were able to find contractors that would pour that asphalt for free. We have been unable to do that."
The cost of maintaining state highways has increased annually – to the point that it is now eating into the financial resources set aside by the Commonwealth to build new roads. According to Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer, the cost of maintenance for roads statewide this year alone would be around $260 million.
To read the entire article, click here.
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Transportation funding key for the Commonwealth's top projects
As we near the end of this year's General Assembly session, it is critical that we point out the need for continued funding for Virginia's transportation system and its top projects.
Much of the talk during this year's session has revolved around the "abuser fees," but it is essential that we also talk about how important it is to continue funding for the Commonwealth's most critical transportation projects.
Our transportation system is facing a dire situation, and without a dedicated revenue stream we run the risk of pushing it to the point of no repair. Right now projects such as improvements to I-81, Rt. 460, Rt. 58, I-95, I-73 and high-speed rail are in danger of being removed from VDOT's Six-Year Plan.
We simply cannot allow this to happen. The cost of construction materials will continue to rise, and with a lack of available funding it will only become more difficult to make a push toward the major transportation system improvements we so desperately need.
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I-81 traffic expected to increase
According to a recent article in The Roanoke Times, many experts are predicting an increase in traffic on the already crowded lanes of I-81 in Western Virginia.
With the possibility of widening the lanes of I-81 many years away, rail developments offer the possibility of some immediate relief from the heavy truck traffic that is currently exceeding the design capacity of the road.
Proponents of the rail developments say that an overall reduction in truck traffic may not be possible due to the mass amount of truckers that use the interstate daily, but the project is believed to help with curbing the growth of future truck traffic.
With the rail project in the foreground there is still a lot of talk about future lane expansions for Virginia's stretch of I-81. In fact, 60 percent of the Virginia stretch of I-81 needs or will need two new lanes in each direction, while 40 percent of the roadway needs or will need one new lane in each direction, according to a detailed study by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
However, according to Fred Altizer, VDOT's point person on I-81 issues, the lane widening project will cost the Commonwealth between $7 billion and $13 billion and could take a decade or two to complete.
As the article states, neither Virginia nor the Federal Highway Administration has that much money in any budget, which would seem to suggest that the completion date is possibly even more distant.
To read the entire article, click here.
For more information about the transportation funding crisis or Virginians for Better Transportation, call 804-237-1399 or click here to visit the It's Time Web site.
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